Is question about translation from or to Arabic are in-topic?

Question

Proposal: Arabic language (اللغة العربية)

Answer 1

Requests for a translation are explicitly off-topic on all Stack Exchange language sites, for the obvious reason that Stack Exchange is not a free translator service. Similarly, simple word translations are frowned upon, as these can be handled by a dictionary.

Asking

• how a particular phrase (especially idiomatics or entendres) would be or is typically translated,

• which of several potential translations (suggested and explained in the question itself - this follows the "show your working" principle applied by most Stack Exchange sites) makes the most correct sense,

• to clarify some confusion between the expected translation of a word and the given form in a dictionary,

should be acceptable.

Less likely to be left open are confirmations that a given translation is correct, especially if this is part of a formal learning course or for non-personal use, but that's up to the community to decide, where its boundary will be.

Answer 2

I'd say if OP is addressing a meaning of a word or an expression it should be on-topic, as one could assume that the questioner has done some effort before to understand the sentence or meaning of a paragraph.

For example I've encountered the following sentence: Now I'd like to know the meaning of the expression "X" ...
Or I'd like to know what word "X" means ...
Can I replace word "X" with word "Y" or expression Z without changing the meaning of the sentence ...
Why word "X" is used here instead of word "Y" ...
...

But for example translating a whole text or sentence should not be on-topic, as this might end up as an opinion-based answer. For each word or expression you'll already find a couple of synonyms, translating a sentence or more would be too extensive with only small benefit!

Also note that translating questions would show no own effort in finding a solution.

Answer 3

I think if the definition of a word pertains to its grammatical usage and/or its differing uses in different dialects, then it makes sense to allow that sort of question. For example, I've witnessed many beginner/intermediate student ask "what's the difference between لأ and ما?" To answer that question, you need to define لأ as "no, in present tense when you're using Fusha and MSA" and ما as 1) no in present tense in Msri (Egyptian dialect) OR 2) the Fusha and MSA way of negating a past tense sentence. The grammatical usage and the definition of the words are inherently tied in this case and in many other cases in Arabic.