Tirukkural translations into Urdu

Last updated November 14, 2023

As of 2015, Urdu has at least two translations available of the Tirukkural.

Background

The first Urdu translation of the Kural text was by Hazrat Suhrawardy, a professor of Urdu Department of Jamal Mohammad College, Tiruchirappalli.^[1] It was published by Sahitya Academy in 1965, with a reprint in 1994. The translation is in prose and is not a direct translation from Tamil but based on English translations of the original. According to the then Special Additional Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, H. K. Ghazi, "His [Suhrawardy's] is a fine piece of work in chaste Urdu. Apart from its own literary merit, the work is faithful to the original."^[2]

The second translation was made in verse by poet Mukhtar Badri in 2001 and was published in Chennai under the title Lafz lafz gohar.^[1] Some sources claim that a second translation was that by Muhammad Yousuf Kokan in 1976. However, it is the first Arabic translation of the Kural text.^[3]

Related Research Articles

Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, an ancient Indian treatise on the ethics and morality of the commoner, is one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. Authored by the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, it has been translated into at least 42 world languages, with about 57 different renderings in the English language alone.

Latin is the first foreign language into which the Tirukkuṟaḷ was translated. There are three known translations of the Kural text available in Latin.

Hindi perhaps has many translations of the Tirukkural. As of 2000, there were at least 19 translations of the Kural text available in Hindi. Many of these translations are in verse form.

Kannada has at least eight translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2014. Both prose and verse translations have been made in Kannada.

As of 2015, there are at least four translations of the Tirukkural available in Russian.

As of 2015, there are at least two translations of the Tirukkural available in the Polish language.

French has the second maximum number of translations of the Tirukkural among European languages, next only to English. As of 2015, there were at least 18 translations of the Kural text available in French.

Among the European languages, German has the third highest number of translations of the Tirukkural, after English and French. As of 2015, there were at least eight translations of the Kural text available in German.

As of 2015, the Chinese language had two translations available of the Tirukkural.

Malayalam has seen the most number of Tirukkural translations than that of any other language in India. As of 2007, there are at least 21 translations of the Kural text available in Malayalam. Malayalam also has the distinction of producing the first ever translation of the Kural text among the languages in India and the world at large. The Annual Report of the Cochin Archeological Department for the year 1933–34 reported an unpublished manuscript of a Malayalam translation of the Tirukkural made in 1595.

Telugu is one of the Indian languages that has had the earliest Tirukkural translations in modern times. As of 2000, there were at least 14 translations of the Kural text available in Telugu.

As of 2015, there were at least three Gujarati translations available of the Tirukkural.

As of 2015, there were at least five Sanskrit translations available of the Tirukkural.

As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Sinhalese at least twice.

As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Czech only once.

As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Dutch only once.

As of 2015, Marathi has at least two translation available of the Tirukkural, of which one is complete.

As of 2015, Fijian had at least two translations available of the Tirukkural.

As of 2015, Malay has at least four translations available of the Tirukkural.

E. S. Ariel, also referred to as Monsieur Ariel by his contemporaries, was a 19th-century French translator known for his French translation of the ancient Indian philosophical text of the Tirukkural. He translated select couplets of the Tirukkural into French in 1848 and published it in Paris under the title Kural de Thiruvalluvar . Although the first French translation of the Kural text was made by an unknown author in 1767, which Ariel had mentioned in his work, it was Ariel's translation that brought the ancient work to the French world.

References

1 2 Polilan; K. Gunathogai; Lena Kumar; Tagadur Sampath; Mutthamizh; G. Picchai Vallinayagam; D. Anbunidhi; K. V. Neduncheraladhan, eds. (2019). Tiruvalluvar 2050 (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: Periyar Enthusiasts Group. p. 682.
↑ Ghazi, H. K. (1973). Tirukkural – Some parallels in Urdu poetry. In: First All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers 1972. University of Madras. pp. 87–96.
↑ Kolappan, B. (17 June 2015). "Saudis celebrate wisdom of Tirukkural". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. Retrieved 9 September 2020.

Bibliography

Ghazi, H. K. (1973). Tirukkural – Some parallels in Urdu poetry. In: First All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers 1972. University of Madras. Pp. 87–96.

External links

Ashraf, N. V. K. (June 2005). "Thirukkural (Sacred Couplets) in Urdu". OOCities. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

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[Polilan2019-1] 1 2 Polilan; K. Gunathogai; Lena Kumar; Tagadur Sampath; Mutthamizh; G. Picchai Vallinayagam; D. Anbunidhi; K. V. Neduncheraladhan, eds. (2019). Tiruvalluvar 2050 (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: Periyar Enthusiasts Group. p. 682.

[2] Ghazi, H. K. (1973). Tirukkural – Some parallels in Urdu poetry. In: First All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers 1972. University of Madras. pp. 87–96.

[TH_SaudisCelebrateTK-3] Kolappan, B. (17 June 2015). "Saudis celebrate wisdom of Tirukkural". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. Retrieved 9 September 2020.

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