TEHRAN -- Referring to the translation of the Holy Qur’an for understating the divine text is necessary but not enough, says a prominent professor of Arabic language.
“Translation alone is not sufficient to understand the Qur’an. Translation is necessary but not enough,” Professor Mihammad Ali Azarshab, a professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Tehran, told IQNA.
“One must fully understand the Arabic language” to grasp the meaning of Qur’anic verses, he stressed.
“Translation is good; a person can use it to better understand the Qur’an, but without understanding Arabic, two problems arise,” he said, adding, “First, they cannot fully grasp the language of the Qur’an and second, they do not connect with the Islamic world.”
He pointed to the longstanding relation between Persian and Arabic languages since Iranians’ embracing of Islam.
Citing an example, he referred to the Buyid dynasty (934–1062 CE) in Iran which was an independent state from the Abbasid Caliphate.
“However, they did not want to separate themselves from the cultural sphere of the Islamic world and moved towards the Arabic language,” said the professor, adding, “They promoted Arabic to such an extent that their ministers were prominent figures in Arabic literature, such as Ibn al-Amin and Sahib ibn Abbad.”
At the same time, the Persian language also reached its peak during this period, and top Persian scholars were present during the Buyid era, he noted.