Every act of translation leaves a trace insofar as the translator “borrows” a voice that is not his. In doing so, the translator reveals the key to his approach, whereby he aims either to hide behind the voice of the translated author, to be a sort of a go-between, as it were, of another’s poetic expression, of a different perspective on the world, or, conversely, to imprint his voice and thus exert an influence on the translated text. This notion takes into account the visibility, and hence the subjectivity, of the translator, thereby challenging traditional concepts within the theory and practice of translation with regard to fidelity, meaning and interpretation. To translate is not only to rewrite the original with the purpose of conveying its specific meaning, but also to reflect a certain ideology, to introduce new concepts and genres, in short, to innovate. The position of the translator in the face of alterity differs depending on if he chooses to flout the rules of his cultural language, considering it insufficient for capturing the content of the text to be translated, or, on the contrary, if he chooses to eliminate unresolved issues in order to avoid disorienting the reader, thus formulating a reading of the translated text as if the author had directly expressed himself in the target language. Working within this framework, we will examine the practices and methodologies of Arabic translators of Edward Saïd’s monumental work Orientalism as they are presented in the prefaces to the various translated editions. We will then establish a link with the reception of Saïd’s work in the Arab world. The prefaces also question the role of translators: are they authors in their own right or translators/discoverers? These are the principal questions of interest in this study on the imprint of the translator on the text.