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Shakespeare continues to be greatly admired in the Arab World. His works remaining ever popular with plays and sonnets frequently published, performed and quoted in daily newspapers and magazines. Shakespears works are also great sources of study in many areas, including those within translational studies. This research explored the Norms of Poetry Translation from English into Arabic through a descriptive corpus- based case study of Shakespeare's Sonnets. The essential objective was to implement a socio-cultural approach to the study of poetry translations, based on the concept of "norms". In order to achieve this, the study engaged in a detailed discussion of the cognitive concept of norms, a theory developed by Gideon Toury (1995), and the concept of the "translator's voice". The thesis also explored "translational shifts" as a tool used to examine the behaviour of translators. Also, the translators' agency as it is linked to the concept of "distinction", which was first introduced by Pierre Bourdieu (1979). Additionally, the works of other pertinent translation theorists were also discussed in order to elaborate a methodology for the study of Arabic translations of Shakespeare's sonnets. The most significant feature of this study is its cross disciplinary nature. It integrates different theories of norms (primarily that of the socio-cultural aspects) which describes the collective behaviour of translators, and the translator's voice. As well as its cross- cultural investigation of norms in Shakespeare's sonnets, within the context of Elizabethan England and the Arabian cultures of that period. The study also reflected on obstacles encountered during the translation process and the consequences of challenging norms. The corpus of the study composed of five Arabic translations chosen from research of all published books of complete Arabic translations of Shakespeare's sonnets; to include all translations, would fall outside of the remit of this thesis. In the effort to shed light, the chosen five translations and their respective translators lends nearer to a reflection of the full coverage of the entirety of Shakespeare's sonnets. Similarly, the five chosen translators provide pertinent scope for comparison, particularly when oscillating in their choices between SC and TC norms. Other contrasting features include their methodology, style and creativity. The translators discussed are Badr Tawfīq (1988), Esmat Wālī (2008), Kamāl Abu-Deeb (2012), 'Abd al-Wāḥid Lu'lu'ah (2013), and Mu?ammad Enani (2016). Finally, underpinning the reasoning for this selection of translations and translators for analysis, two sets of criteria were established: source-oriented and target-oriented. The key findings of this study included: • Translators often follow dominant norms unconsciously, due to personal beliefs or in consideration of TT acceptance. • Norms differed from one culture to another, as well as differing within a single culture across different time periods. • Norms, as a translational concept, is generally connected to Toury, the foremost developer of this concept. However, this study has found that Toury's conceptualisation does not categorically cover the cultural aspects of norms. • There are varying levels of difficulties to applying different theories of norms to Arabic translations of Shakespeare's sonnets. • The more a translator is attached to the norms of either the SC or the TC, then the more distinctive the outcome of the translation is likely to be. • When approaching the translation of Shakespeare's sonnets into Arabic, exploring norms helps to mediate these sonnets in ways which are relevant to Arab audiences. • Creativity is employed by the translators in their attempts to square the expectations of Arab norms whilst remaining true to revealing Shakespeare's expressions and meanings. • On analysis of the introduction of Shakespeare's work into the Arab world, it has been found that Arab readers/audiences were/are tolerant of the Bard's language and images, even if these clash with their usual cultural norms. The scope of this study has the potential to be diverse, However, in keeping with the aims and objective of the thesis, the analysis focused on the translation of metaphors and references that have cultural connotations: mainly, religious, mythical, and taboo expressions. One reason for this concentrated effort was to shed light on the socio-cultural aspects of translation that take shape in the translation process of Shakespeare's sonnets into Arabic. The potential for greater scope has been highlighted so as to inspire further research, for example studies to analyse Shakespearean sonnets may yield other aspects of the dominance of norms in translation, for example, equivalence, which would further enrich the topic. On a final note, it is hoped that thissmall contribution to the study of normsin poetry translation will help balance the perception of Shakespeare as poet, as well as playwright.