Explicitation as a universal of translation has been one of the important topics in recent translation studies. It may challenge translation process because of the differences of the two languages. The explicitation hypothesis used in this study was the first systematic study of explicitation formulated by Blum-Kulka (1986) and based on the shifts of the cohesive markers also related to the different grammatical systems. The objectives of the present study was to examine the issue of cohesion shifts in translating English literary texts into Persian, considering validate Blum-Kulka's (1986) hypothesis, considering the inevitability of the occurrence of cohesion shifts through translation because of the difference of the two language systems. So, two different cohesion systems, also the effects of these shifts on the level of explicitness of translated texts were considered. In so doing, the study followed a hybrid design that combines both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis procedures.To examine the frequencies and types of cohesive devices Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) framework was used. For exploring the effects of cohesion shifts on the level of explicitness of Persian translated texts, the researchers compared the occurred cohesion shifts with the cohesion explicitation list presented by Gumul (2006), in a descriptive comparative way. The findings revealed that English and Persian are different in cohesion. It also concluded that because of the differences between the two languages regarding cohesion, the translators used some shifts in transferring cohesion that lead to explicitation of the TTs. So, there was an overall tendency toward explicitation in all target texts. An implication of the study for the teachers, is that, translators could use these devices as the way of explicating TT also increasing the quality level of TT.

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