“So when the Qur'an is recited, then listen to it and pay attention that you may receive mercy.
And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless.Indeed, those who are near your Lord are not prevented by arrogance from His worship, and they exalt Him, and to Him they prostrate.” [Qur’an, 7:204-206]
It has been so far the fifth edition of the Ukrainian translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an that was presented in Kyiv on Wednesday, 29 November 2017, at “Krymskii Dim” (Ukr. for “the Crimean House”).
The presented book was the latest edition of the translation by the famous Ukrianian orientalist Mykhailo Yakubovych that has already gained popularity among the Ukrainian readers after it was first published in 2013 by the King Fahd Glorious Quran Printing Complex (Medina, Saudi Arabia).
The earlier editions were printed in Kyiv, Ukraine (2013, 2016), and also by the Turkish Department of Religious Affairs (Turkey, 2016). The fifth edition was published due to efforts of Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine “Umma” sponsored by the Ukrainian diaspora in the UAE.
The event was moderated by “Krymskii Dim” Programme Director Alim Aliev.
Mufti of RAMU “Umma” Said Ismagilov reminded that the book offers not the translation of the Qur’an as such, but of the meanings of the Holy Book:
— Translation of the Meaning, no matter how precise it may be, still can’t deliver the Divine revelation in its fullest; the Qur’an can be considered as such only when it’s written in both the original language and the original wording. Any translation is just a mere attempt to deliver the meanings of the contents, so, as any other human work, it is subject to mistakes and imperfections.
— What is different in the fifth edition? First of all, it’s the spelling of some names. We’ve also corrected several misprints, and replaced unclear short explanations with more extended and understandable versions, and renewed the foreword and some of the comments.
By the way, in the foreword, the Musti asks every reader to contact the author should they find some wrongs in the text, so that those mistakes can be avoided in further editions.
In course of the presentation, Mykhailo Yakubovych, author of the Ukrainian translation, noted that the 6th edition was already on the way, for both ukrainian Muslims and non-Muslims had shown great interest in having the book. To him, that is a clear indicator of aspiration of Ukrainians of different faith to understand each other better, which is the necessary condition for both interfaith dialogue and interfaith peace and consent.
The translator states that Ukraine has old-established connections with the Muslim world, not to mention the fact there are quite many muslims in the country:
— Giving my compatriots a chance to become acquainted with the Qur’an (or, to be more accurate, with its meanings we I’ve translated as close to the original meanings as possible) is an attempt to bring different cultural spheres closer in Ukraine.
Ne noted that while working on the first edition, he drew upon the original text in Arabic and Arabic scholium, thus the presented book was the direct translation from Arabic to Ukrainian. Still, Mr.Yakubovych believes that is is impossible to deliever all the aspects of the meanings sent to the Prophet, no matter how skilled you are as a translator: “For the Qur’an is an unlimited ocean of meanings.”
During the presentation, many questions were asked by the guests. They were answered by Said Ismagilov (Mufti fo RAMU “Umma”, Aider Rustemov (Mufti of the Religious Administration of muslims of Crimea for the territories controlled by Ukraine), Mykhailo Yakubovych (the translator) and Ihor Shlapak (director of the Adef printing company).
The guests wanted to know how and when Mr.Yakubovych seized the idea of translating the meanings of Qur’an (was it before or after he reverted to islam?), why the translation was prosaic despite the original text was in verses, how hard it was to translate phraseologisms and set-valued phrases, what were the exact corrections in the fifth edition, and also where one could get their copy.
By the way, the book is not to be sold; it is to be distributed free of charge, and all 1200 copies will be distributed among the Alraid Islamic Cultural Centres and RAMU “Umma” mosques to be given to everyone willing.
During the immediate communication, as noted by Sheikh Said, there were interesting discussions on comparison of Ukrainian and Russian translations: “It’s been a really intellectual discussion, which indicates the interest the Ukrainians have in reading the Meanings of the Holy Qur’an in Ukrainian.”
It bears reminding that islam.in.ua earlier announced the presentation.
Note:
PhD Mykhailo Yakubovych (degree in history) is a Ukrainian orientalist, translator and author of the full Ukrainian translation of the meanings of the holy Qur’an. He wrote such monographs as “Islam in Ukraine: History and Present”, “Philosophical Ideas of the Crimean Khanate” and a number of research works Islamic intellectual heritage. He conducted his research of handwritten sources in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, USA and Germany, and also gave speeches and lectures at the Universities of Poland, Belgium, Iran, Israel, etc. He’s the annual contributor at Ukrainian School of Islamic Studies organised by AUSO “Ukrainian Centre of Islamic Studies”. Associate professor at the Department of Religious Studies and Theology at the National university “Ostroh Academy”, and is also the Head of Ostroh Centre of Islamic Studies
