The Importance of Translating Arabic Literature

There are so many technical reasons for translating text from Arabic to English and English to Arabic: Business, marketing, immigration — much of which we’ve already discussed on our blog. But one thing we haven’t discussed much is why it’s important for fiction, poetry, and other Arabic literature to be translated.

As an avid reader, I believe that writing makes the world go ‘round. Entire societies and the course of history itself have been changed by well-written science journals, newspaper publications, etc. Wonderful contributions to the world community have been made by Arabs through writing, and this continues till the present day. Translating Arabic books into English allows people from all over the globe access to understanding and knowledge that they would otherwise miss out on.

Famous Arabic Literature

As for some of the older works, there was Avicenna (ابن سینا‎). He wrote the Canon of Medicine which, published in 1025, set standards of medicinal practice throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia through the 18th century. Some of its principles continue to be of influence in medicine until today.

Then there’s ألف ليلة وليلة, or One Thousand and One Nights. This is a famous collection of folk tales told or written by various unknown authors in Persian, then translated into Arabic. Various editions passed down over centuries before a translation was made available in English during the 19th century. It’s not considered to be a perfect literary work since it has been pieced together and its original versions contained some grammatical errors. Its concept is harrowing yet romantic, much like fairytales from cultures from all over the world. But, like many others who grew up in the Middle East, as a child, I spent Ramadan watching holiday specials which brought it to life on the small screen, and it is absolutely considered a cornerstone of Arabic culture.

Skill and Imagination

Today, if you visit Egypt you’ll find that spending hours in homey bookshops is still a worthy pastime. There are lots of books in English available but if you can enjoy some in Arabic, or translations of them, how much more would you learn?

When poetry, fiction, or other creative works like those from my personal collection (pictured above) are being translated, it’s important to carefully select the translator that will do the work. Only a linguist with their own high degree of literary appreciation, writing skills, and attention to detail will be able to breathe the essence of the original work into the translation and give the reader the same sensations that they would have felt if they’d read the original text. That translator needs to be thoroughly fluent in both languages so that they can easily “get” the message of the original writer and make it clear to the reader in the translated version.

Through their adaptation, the reader without a passport gets to bypass borders, travel across continents, and through time.

Originally published at https://sastranslations.com on December 22, 2019.