The media team of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding held its third symposium for the sixth season entitled "The reality and prospects of translation in Bangladesh to and from Arabic", on Thursday July 2, and a number of Bengali academics and translators participated in it.

Bengali speaks more than 200 million people around the world, and is the official and national language of Bangladesh, the second most widely spoken language in India after the Hindi language, and the seventh most widely spoken language around the world in terms of population.

The symposium was opened by Dr. Abu Jamal Muhammad Qutb Al-Islam Nomani, Professor at the Department of Arabic Language at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, and in his speech entitled "The Bangladesh Experience in Translating into Arabic and the Reverse ... The Nature of Official and Individual Efforts". It happened in Bangladesh, including the Noble Qur’an, which has been translated several times in succession with the efforts of many translators, given the demand for the Book of God.

In his intervention, Nomani spoke about the institutions that were interested in translation in Bangladesh, including the Islamic institution, which is one of the largest institutions concerned with the translation of religious books, including interpretations, books of jurisprudence, biography, Sunnah, etc., in addition to other institutions and publishing houses concerned with translation, noting the scarcity of translation from Bengali to Arabic in general.

On the other hand, Al-Nomani pointed out the influence of translation from Arabic on the Bengali community, saying that "the role of the Islamic awakening has the greatest impact in marketing Arabic books translated into Bengali."

Experience and difficulties

Dr. Mahfouz Al-Rahman Muhammad Dhuhair, Professor at the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Islamic University of Kushtia, Bangladesh, addressed an intervention entitled "A personal experience in the translation process to and from Bengali ... A statistical reading of the size of the translator from Bengali to Arabic and vice versa"; To the beginnings of his work in translation since his association with academic work.

He pointed out that religious translation is common in Bangladesh, because translators know the religious sciences, and their lack of knowledge of philosophical sciences - for example - prevented them from working in those sciences.

He also showed some difficulties in translating from Arabic into Bengali, which he faces as a translator, including the difficulty of some difficult words on Bengali culture, the lack of translators to the sources and references that help them to translate, in addition to the difficulty of some of the topics that are required of them to translate and do not fall in the field of their work as psychology And more.

He emphasized the need for the translator to be patient, to exert double effort, scientific honesty and honesty with oneself. Being fundamental characteristics in building the awareness of the right translator, he also called for the need to support the translator financially and morally for the translation movement to flourish.

Areas of translation between the two languages

Dr. Abdullah Al-Maamoun Abdul Latif, known as Al-Azhari and lecturer at the Department of Islamic Studies at Shantou Maryam University of Creative Technology in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pointed out that the number of speakers in the Bengali language is more than 189 million speakers around the world, and it is one of the living languages ​​classified by the United Nations, and noted Bangladeshs interest in translation and interpretation.

In his paper titled "Domains of translation in the Bengali language (literature / humanities) and their nature", Al-Azhari talked about the eras of translation and the stages they went through in the Middle Ages (1200 - 1600) and Hadith (1601 - present).

He dealt with some translations of Bengali literature into Arabic, such as the translation of the poems of Farooq Ahmed Khan, and confirmed that what has been translated into Bengali is still little except for the translation of a religious nature.

The Sheikh Sheikh Award for Translation invites you to follow the symposium that will be broadcast # directly on the Facebook page:
"The reality and prospects of translation in # Bangladesh to and from # Arabic"
Thursday, July 2, at 4:30 pm Doha time (1:30 pm UTC)
with the participation of a group of translators And researchers https://t.co/SGXfAhNiTM pic.twitter.com/6lnNiyb7EH

Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (@HamadTAward) June 30, 2020

Religious motive

For his part, Professor Abu Muhammad Salih, known as Path of Islam and Professor at the Department of Islamic Call and Studies at the Islamic University of Kushtia, Bangladesh, spoke; On the popularity of the translated book, the history of translation through the ages and the beginnings of the Bengali translation with the Magi and Hindu scriptures.

He noted the irony that these translations were at the behest of Muslim sultans, which confirms their awareness of the importance of translation.

The path of Islam also touched two levels of the Bengali language; Those that spread in Dhaka, and have an Islamic character, while they spread in Kalakta with a Hindu character, which requires accuracy in dealing with translators from other languages ​​into Bengali, and the book "Yusef Zulekha" was considered the first to be translated from Arabic to Bengali in 1500 AD.

In conclusion, Dr. Hanan Al-Fayyad, media consultant for the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation, was presented. The objectives and vision of the award, the annual financial value distribution mechanism, in addition to the award categories, and the importance of choosing the Korean language as one of the five languages ​​in the achievement category for this sixth season.

Al-Fayyad indicated that the award directs her attention in the 2020 season to choosing the Persian language as a second major language besides English, and the selection of 5 new languages ​​in the achievement category, which are: Pashto, Bengali, Swedish and Hausa, in addition to Korean.