A HISTORY OF BENGALI TRANSLATIONS OF THE HOLY QUR’AN

Bengali, one of the languages of the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan family, is spoken by more than eighty million Muslims living in Bangladesh and some parts of India. In its native tongue the language is known as Barigk-Bhag or Banga-BhBgl, i.e., the language of B h g k or Bahga. Although Bengali is one of the oldest languages of South Asia, having its own scripts, it was neither the official nor the religious language of Bengal. The Muslims conquered Bengal at the beginning of the thirteenth century and ruled it until the end of the eighteenth century. Under their rule Persian was the language of culture, administration and inter-state communication. As a result, as many as 2500 Persian words are said to have penetrated into Bengali vocabulary.‘

Although Bengal came under the sway of Muslims at the beginning of the thirteenth century, Islam came to this land much earlier. Modern research reveals a trace of Islamic propagation in northern Bengal as early as the time of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809),2 and at the time of establishment of Muslim rule Islam had already a firm footing in Bengal. Unfortunately, neither the new Muslim settlers nor the newly-converted Muslims paid any attention to the translation of religious works in this language which rather was considered to be the language of infidels. But Persian, already the language of court and nobility, was accepted, after Arabic, as an Islamic language.

Persian is said to be the first language in which the Holy Qur’an was translated, as early as during the time of al-Khulafa’ al-Ushidim, by Salmiin al-Farisi, one of the companions of the Prophet? It was followed by the one made for Abb Salih Mansiu b. NM, Samanid ruler of Transoxania and Khurasan (961 -976).4 Numerous others followed and there are as many as 250 early Persian translations of and commentaries on the Holy Qur’Bn.5

The Persian venture was followed by the Turkish. From the eleventh century, starting with the Persian version of al-Tabari’s commentary,

I M. Abdul Hai, “Bengali,” E.I., New ed., 1. 1167. Muhammad Enamul Haq, Airva-Pakistrine Islam (Dacca, 1948), pp. 10-12. J.D. Pearson, “AI-Kur‘an: Translations of the Kur’Bn,” EJ., New ed., V, 429-32.

4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.

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there are said to be more than seventy translations into Turkish, existing in many hundreds of manuscripts.6

Contrary to this practice, Bengali culamti’ considered the translation of the Holy Qur‘Hn into Bengali an act of blasphemy. They had the peculiar conviction that if the Holy Qur‘an and other religious works were translated into this language the people would be mislead. These verdicts of the ‘ulamii’ did not go unchallenged for an indefinite period, however. The Persian and Turkish translations were already known to the Bengali Muslims and were soon followed by the Urdu versions, the earliest of which was made during the beginning of the sixteenth century. The sixteenthcentury poet Syed Sultan, in his celebrated OJdt-i-Rasul, asked what was wrong with Bengalis learning the message of the QuPHn in their native tongue if Persians could learn it in Farsi and Turks in Turkish. This celebrated poet and prolific writer devoted himself, therefore, to writing books to spread the messages of the Holy Qur’tin and the Hadith. But, unfortunately, a section of the people, apparently ‘ularna’, started to blame him for Hinduization of Islam. This opposition to writing on Islam in Bengali, Syed Sultan argued, was nothing but hypocrisy and he came out with his work Navi- Varps6 (The Prophet’s family).’ He was immediately followed by others, among them the outstanding personalities of Shaikh Partin (1650-1715) and Muttalib (1575-1660), who composed Nasihat-m-mti (Religious advice) and Kviyat al-musallin (Fundamentals of the devotees) respectively. NasrulPh Khan (1560-1625), another prolific writer on religious subjects, wrote the SharTar-nimi (A manual of religious laws), Musar s i w d (Enquiries of Moses) and Hidayat al-Islam (Advice on Islam). Many other works dealing with different aspects of religion followed! Hundreds of manuscripts of these works are still extant in different libraries of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India, but, unfortunately, not a single manuscript of a Bengali translation of the Holy QuZBn has yet been discovered.

When such was the state of Muslim religious literature, Bengal fell into the hands of the British. The battle of Plassy (1757) and the defeat of Shirazuddaulah brought not only political and economic misery to the Muslim population but religious crises as well. Their maktabs (high

6 Zeki Veldi Togan, “The earliest translation of the Quran into Turkish,” Islam Tefkikieri Ensr. Dergisi, IV (1964). 1-19, and J.K. Birge, ‘‘Turkish Translations of the Koran,” M. W., XXVIII (1938). 394-99.

Syed Sultan, Navi-Van&,” Dacca Manuscript, Bengali Academy Library. * Muhammad Enamul Haq. Muslim Bengali Literature, trans. Syed Ali Ashraf

(Karachi, 1958).

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schools) and mudrusus (colleges) started to disappear in the absence of financial support from the state, being replaced by the secular western- styled educational institutions. Meanwhile, many Christian missionaries started their attempts a t Christianization. Their activities were not only directed towards Hindus, but also began to include Bengali Muslims. Among these Christian missionaries, the Reverend William Carey, Chief of the Baptist Missionary Society, was most prominent? He landed in Bengal in 1793. When he asked Muslims if they understood the words of the Qur’Sn, the reply, according to his own diary, was ‘“no, for it was written in Arabic, no one could understand it.’ The question now was, ‘Then how can you obey it? and wheretofore are you mahomedans?’”’O

Carey’s mission-popularly known as the Serampore Mission1’-- was followed and strengthened by many others.12 In order to aid their preaching, these missions printed and published the Holy Bible and many other books and tracts on Christianity in Bengali. They also produced many works challenging Islam, its Prophet and its Scripture.

These anti-Islamic activities of the Christian missionaries could not but have repercussions among the religious leaders of Bengal. A pioneer among them was Hajji Shariatullah (1764-1840), whose movement, known as the FarH’iji movement, did not aim at a direct confrontation with the missionaries but rather sought to strengthen the Muslims in their own religious beliefs and to consolidate their position. After his death, his work was carried on by his son Dudu Meah (1819-1862). Hajji Shariatullah was followed by three others in the genre: Maulana Imamuddin (1 788- 1859), Maulana Sufi Nur Muham- mad (ca. 1790-1861) and Maulana Kiramat Ali (1800-1873).~3 Unfortunately, none of these religious leaders attempted a Bengali translation of the Holy Qur’an.

Wider circulation of religious literature was greatly facilitated when printing was introduced in I777 by the well-known orientalist-civil servant Sir Charles Wilkins,’4 who cut founts of Bengali and Perso-

John Clark Marshman, The life and rimes of Carey. Morshmon and Word, embrocing the hislory of Serompore Mission, 2 vols. (London: Longmans, 1859).

l o “Carey’s manuscript journal,” London Records, Baptist Missionary Society. 11 For a detailed history of this mission, see Marshman, The rife ond rimes of Corey. I * For detailed information regarding different missionary societies, see James Long,

Hondbook of Bengol missions, in connexion with the Church of England. Together with an occount of general educorionol efforts in norrh Indio (London: J.F. Shaw, 1848).

Haq, Ajrvo-Pokistrine Islam, pp. 14-50, I‘ Mofakhkhar Hussain Khan, “History of printing in Bengali characters up to 1866”

(Ph.D. diss., University of London, 1976).

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Arabic types. The earliest printed edition of an Urdu translation of the Holy Qur’ln-or rather, of portions of it-is that by Mirza Kazim Ali Jawan, printed by another British orientalist John Gilchrist in his Hindustani Press in 1802 and 1803.

As a response and reaction to the aggressive evangelization attempts by the missionaries, a few printing presses were established by the Bengali Muslims. Munshi Hedayatullah was a pioneer among them, followed by Munshi Abdullah of Hugly, who founded his press in Calcutta in the early 1820s. It was at the latter’s press, in 1824, that the first edition of the Holy Qur%n was printed, in India, the Arabic text accompanied by the Urdu translation of Shah Abdul Qadir, entitled Mazhi aI-Qu?lin. Abdullah’s press, the Ahmadi press, was in operation until the end of the nineteenth century, and played a very active role in printing and publishing Islamic literature in India. This press also had the honor of printing the earliest Bengali translation of the Qur‘an, and it is to the Bengali translations that we shall now turn.

As referred to earlier, for a long time Bengali Muslims had been desirous of a translation of the Holy QuIJan in their own language, and were opposed on this point by their ‘ulam8’. At lait, S u m ul-Fitiha together with juz’ 30 (LAmmu, commonly called Ampdra in Bengali) was translated by Gholam Akbar Ali of Mirazapur PatwHrer Bagan of Calcutta, apparently based on the Urdu versions already available. It was printed at the Ahmadi Press by Asghar Husain in 1868. The translation is in metrical Bengali verse. After one or two verses in Arabic the Bengali translation and a short commentary follow. Evidently only one incomplete copy of this work is extant, discovered by a literary scout, Abdullah Khan from Khulna, Bangladesh, and now in the personal collection of Abdur-Rahman, editor of the weekly Anifit, Dacca, Bangladesh.

Apparently almost contemporaneous with Asghar Husain’s transla- tion is another one, of the same ju2 ‘Amma, by Amiruddin Vasunia. It is said to have been litho-printed, undated, by one of the early litho presses of Calcutta, and contained 128 pages duodecimo.~~ No copy of this work seems to be extant now.

The earliest complete Bengali translation of the Holy Qur‘gn was made by the Brahmin Bhai Girish Chandra Sen (1835-1910), on the initiative of Keshab Chandra Sen, leader of the Navavidhan faction of the Brtihma Samilj, founded by M m Mohan Roy (1772-1833). It was published anonymously in three parts. The first part, containing 384

1s Rangpur Shihitya Parigd Patrika, IV (1908). 168.

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pages, was printed at the Cbruyantra (Ch2ru Press), Sherpur Town, Mymensingh, Bangladesh in 1881, while the last two parts, containing pages 385 to 760 and 761 to 1201 respectively, were printed at the Vidhfin Yantra (Vidhfin Press), Calcutta, between 1882 and 1886. A com- plete edition in one volume was published in 1887. Another edition, re- vised and corrected, was printed between 1889 and 1892 by the Deva Yantra (Deva Press), Calcutta, while the third edition, printed at Mahgalgaijj Mission Press, was published in 1907. The fourth edition of this work, with a foreword by Maubnti Muhammad Akram Khan, came out in 1936. After having been out of print for some time, a reprint appeared in 1977 by Jhinuk Pustika, Dacca, reproducing the text of the third edition.

At the end of Part I1 of the first edition, the (anonymous) translator stated that he was giving a literal translation of the Holy Qur‘Bn in order to do full justice to the original although this was leading to a somewhat difficult and wooden rendering. The work became very popular, and many readers wrote letters of appreciation to the translator and requested him to reveal his name. Some of them, however, urged him to make “the style of the work easier so as to be understood by the less erudite.”’b The work, being that of a non- Muslim, was a real surprise to the Muslims and it was highly commended by no one less than MaubnB Alimuddin who had taught the translator Arabic. In addition to the Qur’Bn translation, Girish Chandra Sen wrote or translated as many as thirty books in Bengali on different aspects of Islam.

In the same period another non-Muslim was working on a Qur’an translation, a native Christian named Philip Biswas. He published in 1892 Koran, a selection of important passages, divided over ten chapters. It was printed by the Hercules Press, Calcutta, and was published by the Christian Vernacular Education Society. The main aim of the work was the establishment of Christianity as the true religion, and it therefore goes without saying that this translation never gained any popularity among Muslims.

The Reverend William Goldsacki7 came out with another translation in 1908, published in installments. The first part containing Ari, lri mi siprira (iui? Ah5 him, mim) was printed at 41 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta in 1908 and the last part, Am siprsru (iur‘ ‘Amma) was printed

I6 Girishchandra Sen, Koran Sarg, 3rd ed. (Calcutta, 1907), appendix. *’ For a facsimile of one page of this translation, see S.M. Zwemer, “Translations of

the Koran,” M. W., V (1915). 254-55.

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at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta in 1920. This work, beautifully printed in quarto, was published by the Christian Literary Society for India, Bengal Branch, Calcutta.

Another early non-Muslim translator of the Qur%n was Kiran Gopal Singh, a Hindu. In 1908, he published Amph& juz’ 30 of the Qur‘an. According to the translator’s preface and the advertisement of the publisher, the whole Qur’an translation had already been completed at the time of the publication of this first part, and they announced that it would be published in full if the first section, AmpHrii, would prove to be popular. Apparently the translation did not appeal to the readers since there is no evidence of any further section having been published.

Maulavi Muhammad Naimuddin was the first Muslim to attempt a complete Bengali translation of the Holy Qur’iin. The first part, containing four-hundred pages, was published in 1891. In the following year, he published his second part. In 1908, while juz’ 10 was in the press, the maulavi died. During’ the next year, his sons continued publication up to juz’ 22. In Maulavi Naimuddin’s edition the Arabic verses precede the translation, which is followed by a commentary printed in smaller type.

Khan Bahadur Taslimuddin Ahmed was a lawyer by profession. His Ampdrd (juz’ 30) was published by Reazuddin Ahmed at the Reazul Islam Press, Calcutta in 1908. In the preface of this work, the translator noted that the translation of the entire Qur‘an had already been completed and would be published in due course. His translation in three volumes came out at Oriental Printers and Publishers Limited, Calcutta, in 1922, 1923 and 1925.

The translation of Maulslm Abbas Ali (1859-1932) is the next one to be mentioned. The work was printed at the Alan Press, Calcutta in 1909 (976 pp., octavo) and was published by the author himself. It is a bilingual translation, in which the Arabic text is followed by the Urdu version of Shah Rafiuddin and his own Bengali translation. The inner and outer margins contain short commentaries in Bengali and Urdu. The translation went through five editions, the fifth appearing in 1939. Muhammad Nakibuddin Khan, publisher of the fifth edition, expressed in his preface his desire to put out a sixth edition, but apparently that plan did not materialize.

Khandaker Abul Fazal Abdul Karim, a teacher of Arabic and Persian at B.B. Secondary School at Tangail, also translated the complete Qur‘tin, accompanied by a commentary, in very simple language. It was published in thirty parts around 1915.

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Fazlur Rahim Chaudhury, of Ulunia, Barisal, became famous for his Bengali translation of Mishkd 01-Masibih. In the second edition of this work, published in 1929, the author announced the forthcoming publication of his Qur‘an translation which appeared in two volumes containing juz’ 1-15 and juz’ 16-30 respectively, in 1931 and 1932. Unlike the earlier translations mentioned, this version does not give the Arabic text.

The name of Mauhna Muhammad Akram Khan is famous in the history of the freedom movement of the Indian subcontinent. While a political prisoner at Alipore Jail he started translating the Holy Qur’an and his translaton o f j u 2 ‘Amma (juz’ 30) was published while he was still in prison. Other sections followed and, finally, the complete Qur’an was published in five volumes in 1958 and 1959. The Arabic text and the Bengali translation appear in parallel columns, with a short commentary and notes a t the foot of each page. The language of the translation is a pure and yet simple literary Bengali, and the rhythmic style is very appealing.

All of the works discussed were completed before India gained her independence in 1947, an event which stimulated new literary endeavors and led to the initiation of various publication programs and the establishment of several new printing firms. As far as Bengal is concerned-that became in 1947 divided between an Eastern part (East Pakistan) and West Bengal (one of the states of India)-we have witnessed in the decades since 1947 the appearance of a substantial number of Bengali translation of the Holy Qur’Hn. ** Dissatisfaction with the literary qualities of (most of) these translations led to a growing demand for a “standard” Bengali rendering, meeting the highest demands of Qur’anic scholarship and of literary excellence. One of the spokesmen for this ideal was the poet Abdul Kadir, who appealed in 1962 to the Islamic Academy to undertake this task.19 The Islamic Academy (now renamed the Islamic Foundation, Dacca, Bangladesh) accepted the challenge and brought together a group of eminent scholars to work cooperatively on this project. The result was the Qur’an translation published in three volumes, in 1967, 1969, and 1971.2O In the eyes of several people, this new translation was a

A complete bibliography of the Qur’Bn translation in Bengali has been included, among others, in the author’s forthcoming work “Historical bibliography of the Holy Qur’an .”

I Q Abdul Kadir, “Kuran majider Baipl anuvad,” Islamic Academi Patrikci, 1 (1%2), 131-32.

Kurcinul Kurim (Dacca, 1967). I, preface.

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disappointment, falling far short of the high expectations many had entertained. According to them it lacked the clarity of some of the earlier renderings that were the work of 'individual scholars, it introduced many Arabic words for which fully acceptable and adequate equivalents in Bengali already existed, in short, it failed to do justice to the richness and fullness of the Arabic text. Because of this reaction, it is reasonable to assume that individual efforts to render the meaning of the Holy Qur%n in Bengali will continue to be made, in ever new attempts to be faithful to its timeless message.

Bayero University Kano, Nigeria

MOFAKHKHAR HUSSAIN KHAN