Quran Translations - History

History

The first translation of the Qur'an was performed by Salman the Persian, who translated Surah al-Fatihah into the Persian language during the early 8th century. According to Islamic tradition contained in the hadith, Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius received letters from Muhammad containing verses from the Qur'an. However, during Muhammad's lifetime, no passage from the Koran was ever translated in to these languages nor any other.

The second known translation was into Greek and was used by Nicetas Byzantius, a scholar from Constantinople, in his 'Refutation of Quran' written between 855 and 870. However, we know nothing about who and for what purpose had made this translation. It is however very probable that it was a complete translation.

The first fully attested complete translation of the Qur'an was in Persian in India by Shah Waliullah. His sons Shah Rafiuddin and Shah Abdul Qadir translated the Qur'an into the Urdu language.

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known.

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