The Unsung Hero in the Arena of
Translation and Scholarship
The first 14 or 15 years (1982-96) of Al-Tawhid
Journal are important for us Muntazirin in the Philippines for two reasons.
Firstly, during those years we had been regularly receiving copies of the
then prestigious quarterly journal of Islamic thought. Thereafter, not a
single copy has ever been received by us. The few copies of recent issues we
have now are acquired from other sources. Secondly, this decade and a half
was also remarkable for the qualitative prestige of the journal. After that,
the once scholarly publication unfortunately regressed into the domain of
the commons. Its pages are now replete with typographical errors that
suggest poor proofreading while a considerable number of its articles are
just picked up here and there. In fact, we are even uncertain whether or not
the journal ever continues its publication. (The Message of Thaqalayn
Journal which Qara’i thereafter managed as the chief editor for a short
period seems to meet the same unfortunate fate of Al-Tawhid. A single issue
of the “quarterly journal” could hardly be published for a whole year.)
It is obvious to all that the man behind this golden age of the periodical
is ‘Ali Quli Qara’i who served as its founding editor-in-chief until his
resignation in 1996 for reasons best known to Allah, with the able
assistance of his spouse, Mahliqah, prior to her martyrdom as among the
passengers of the Iranian civilian airbus shot down by the US Navy in the
Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988.
The username part of his email <[email protected]> can be an illustrious
tip of a peculiar attachment he has with the journal. In fact, we may say
that Al-Tawhid is Qara’i but Qara’i is not only Al-Tawhid. Now, with the
recent publication of his phrase-by-phrase translation of the Holy Qur’an,
Qara’i himself proves that he transcends beyond Al-Tawhid.
Educated at Osmania University and the University of Wisconsin, Qara’i is an
outstanding translator and scholar whose mastery of English, Arabic and
Persian and deep understanding of the Islamic sciences rendered him a truly
endangered specie.
His numerous works of translation with rich annotations include ‘Allamah
Tabataba’i’s Bidayat al-Hikmah (The Elements of Islamic Metaphysics), Imam
Khomeini’s Forty Hadiths: An Exposition of Ethical and Mystical Traditions
(with his martyred spouse, Mahliqah, as co-translator), ‘Allamah Sayyid
Muhammad Husain Tehrani’s Lubb al-Lubab and Ruh-e Mujarrad, The Risalih-ye
Sayr-o Suluk attributed to ‘Allamah Bahr al-‘Ulum and Nasir al-Din Tusi’s
Awsaf al-Ashraf.
He has also translated (with important explanatory notes) scores of articles
from Persian and Arabic on philosophy and religion such as the works of
Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari.
His English translation of the Holy Qur’an has been published recently in
Britain by an Islamic institution.
While presently associated with the Centre for Translation of the Holy
Qur’an in the holy city of Qum as a translation consultant, he is now
working on a translation of the Mafatih al-Janan, a comprehensive manual of
Islamic piety based on the Imamiyyah tradition.
Undoubtedly, for a prestigious institution of higher learning in Iran, or
any university of good standing around the world for that matter, to give
honoris causa PhD in translation, for instance, to our unsung hero is indeed
an honor not only to him but also to the said institution as well as to the
field of translation and scholarship as a whole.
Shajaratun Muntazirah Newsletter Issue 6, Vol. 2, No. 2 (March-April 2005)
'Ali Quli Qara'i
© 1998-2005 Shajaratun Muntazirah
Email: [email protected]
Address: http://www.geocities.com/smuntazirah
