Thirukkural Now in Arabic
CHENNAI: The spread of Tamil language to different territories is gaining pace. The most recent instance is of the translated text of Thirukkural in Arabic language, compiled by a faculty member of the Madras University, having found acceptance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A Jahir Husain, assistant professor Department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu, and two of his research associates embarked on the State Government project, co-ordinated by the International Institute of Tamil Studies, Taramani. “The project was annnounced in the State Assembly in 2011 and we worked on it for two years,” said Husain.
Earlier in March, Husain was invited to the four-day Arab International Poet’s Conference held at Dammam city in Saudi Arabia. “Saudi’s Ministry of Culture vetted the script with three of their best poets and only after they were satisfied and amazed by the depth and literary value of Thirukkural did they agree to include our presentation in the conference,” said Husain.
Husain said that Arabic language was still seen by many as synonymous with Islam. “People are amazed that kural could be translated from Tamil to Arabic. But we have done it and it is a first,” he added.
A few obstacles had to be ironed out before the presentation. “There is a chapter (Pulal Maruthal) in Thirukkural which depicts eating meat in a bad light. We had to explain it to the Saudis that it applied to those adopting sainthood and not the common man,” he said.
“Otherwise, they were of the opinion that Thirukkural and the Holy Quran had a lot of similarities,” he added.
Husain said that translation of Tamil literary works and research alone would help spread the language. “Our people are content talking about the language’s history, how old it is, etc., but we commit to very little when it comes to spreading the knowledge of its history to others,” said Husain.
He referred to the works of Tamil poets Kaviko Abdul Rehman and Vairamuthu, and said that not many outside the State knew about them. “I presented Arabic Thirukkural at the Calicut University only a couple of days ago. I was amazed to find that the Malayalee folks knew what Thirukkural was and who wrote it. But they did not know what it speaks of and who Thiruvalluvar was. That is the issue which needs addressing,” he said.
He also intends to translate Vairamuthu and Kaviko’s works into Arabic in future, besides authoring a book capturing the literary journey of Tamil beginning from the Sangam age, in Arabic.