Chapter 2: Earliest Translations in Different Languages

Based on Muhammad Hamidullah’s study, Prof Ihsanoglu, in his introduction to the IRCICA bibliography, gives the following details about the first translations of the Qur’an in different languages, beginning with those of Asia.

Persian: The first translation, a team effort, was that of al-Tabari’s Tafsir done in the period of the Samanid king Abu Salih Mansur ibn Nuh (348-364/961-976). The first printed Persian commentary was Mawab-e ‘Aliyyah or Tafsir-e Husayni (Calcutta 1837).

Turkish: According to one opinion a Turkish version of al-Tabari’s Tafsir was prepared simultaneously with the Persian version of it. According to another opinion the Turkish version was prepared a hundred years later in the 5th/llth century. None of these is, however, extant. The first Turkish translation to be published was the Tafsir al-Tibyiin (Cairo 1842).

Urdu: The first complete translation in Urdu is commonly considered to be made by Shah Raft al-Din in 1190/1776. Its first edition was published in Calcutta in 1840. It was followed by the translation of Shah ‘Abd al-Qadir in 1205/1790 and its first edition was published in Delhi in 1829. Both were sons of Shah Wali Allah. There is an old translation in Deccani Urdu done in the beginning of the l0th century. The first printed partial translation in Urdu in Basa’ir al-Qur’an was by Nikhat Shahjahanpuri (Bombay 1731).

Bengali: The first complete translation was by Garish Chandra Sen, a Brahmin, in 1881-1886. Views differ as to the first partial translation. According to one opinion it was the translation of the 30th Juz’ by Ghulam Akbar ‘Ali of Mirzapur in 1868. According to others, the first incomplete translation was by Mawlana Amir al-Din Bachchumiyan.

Gujrati: The first complete translation was by ‘Abd al-Qadir b. Luqman (Bombay 1879).

Kashmiri: The first partial translation was by Muhammad Yahya Shah, published in 1887.

Hindi: Reportedly, the first “Hindi” translation was done as early as 2701 883 by an scholar from Iraq deputed by ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar, the ruler of Sindh, at the request of Raja Mahrook of Punjab and Kashmir. The translation did not go beyond Surat Ya Sin. In view of the fact that the word “Hindi” is understood in the sense of “Indian” by many West Asians, the translation might have been in some Indian language of the time (see the following para). The first full translation in modern Hindi was done by Dr. Ahmad Shah Masi.hi, a Christian priest (published in 1915).

Sindhi: According to Sindhi tradition the first translation was made by in 270/883 by an Arab scholar. This one might be the same as the one mentioned above. The first extant Sindhi translation was done by Akhund ‘Azaz Allah Mutta’lawi (1160-124011747-1824) and first published in Gujrat in 1870. The first to appear in print was by Muhammad Siddlq (Lahore 1867).

Tamil: The first partial translation was by Mustafa ‘ Alim Hajiyar and Nuh ‘Alim Sahib and published in Bombay in 1873. The first complete translation was made by Hablb Muhammad al-Qahirl (Bombay 1883).

Pashto: The earliest known commentary in Pashto was by Mawlana Murad ‘Ali, completed in 1284/1867 and published in Lahore in 1906. There is reportedly an earlier complete translation in Pashto (Bhopal 1861).

Panjabi: The first partial translation was made by Nuwan Kutl Shah, published in Lahore 1885. The first complete translation was by Hafiz Mubarak Allah (published in 1870).

Malay and Indonesian: The first translation into Malay was done by ‘Abd al-Ra’uf al-Fansurl, of Sinkel, in the province of Aceh, in the middle of 17th century. The first in Indonesian is a selection by Jamayin ‘Abd al-Murad published in Fort de Kock in 1926. Malay is the original of the modern Indonesian.

Chinese: Shaykh Liu Che translated several chapters of the Qur’an before the beginning of the 20th century and was followed by Shaykh Mufushu, who completed 20 parts before he died. The first printed trans. was by Ma Lian Yuan (Kunming 1889). In 1927 Li Tiezheng made the first complete tran. from a Japanese trans. by Sakamoto Ken-ichi which was in turn made from Rodwell’s in English.

Japanese: The first trans. was made by K. I. Sakamolo, a Buddhist, from an English translalion; it appeared in 1920.

Korean: The first in Korean was made by Young-Sun Kim (Seoul 1971).

Swahili: The earliest trans. in any African language was in Swahili, made by Godfrey Dale in 1923.

Yoruba: The first complete trans. in Yoruba was made by M. S. Cole and printed in Lagos in 1906.

Latin: The first trans. was made by Robertus Ketenensis in 1143 C. E. (printed in 1543).

Spanish: Abraham of Toledo translated 70 surahs at the behest of Alphonse X (1252-1284), Bonaventure based his French translation on this Spanish text. The first translation in Spanish, by De Jose Garber de Robles, was published in Madrid in 1844.

Italian: The first in a modern European language was in Italian by Andrea Arrivabene (published 1547). It was used for the first German translation.

German: The first German trans. was made by Solomon Schweigger (printed in Nurenberg in 1616) and formed the basis of the first in Dutch (Hamburg 1641).

French: Andre du Ryer, a Frenchman who lived in Istanbul and Egypt for some time, made a direct trans. from Arabic, published in Paris in 1647. Reprinted many times, it formed the basis of many European translations. English: The first trans. was made by Alexander Ross (first printed in London 1648) on the basis of du Ryer’s in French. The oldest printed trans. In English recorded in the IRCICA bibliography is a 61 page selection (London 1515). George Sale’s was the first to be made from Arabic and was published in London in 1734. It became a source on which many other trans. were based.