5 months ago
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The Arabic variation of Burhi Ayir Xadhu, a postulation of Assamese folktales by Lakshminath Bezbaroa, was introduced to Indian readers astatine Jawaharlal Nehru University connected December 18, the World Arabic Language Day. Titled Hikayat al-Jaddah (Grandmother’s Tales), the translation marks the archetypal clip an Assamese literate enactment has been rendered into Arabic.
The motorboat was portion of an world and taste programme astatine JNU’s Centre of Arabic and African Studies, which celebrated Arabic arsenic a planetary connection and explored its relation successful literature, culture, and cognition exchange. The programme featured discussions connected Arabic successful the integer era, its engagement with artificial intelligence, and its capableness to span taste and linguistic divides.
Burhi Ayir Xadhu, compiled successful the aboriginal 20th Century, brings unneurotic people narratives that person circulated orally crossed generations successful Assam. Known for its simplicity, humour, and motivation clarity, the postulation presents stories of clever villagers, cunning animals, and kings undone by pride. The Arabic translation, prepared by JNU doctoral student Abu Sayed Ansari from Kamrup territory of Assam, preserves the essence of these tales portion making them accessible to readers unfamiliar with Assamese societal and taste contexts.
The programme was attended by ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from astir 20 Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, and Somalia. Speakers highlighted the value of translation successful fostering cross-cultural knowing and recognised Arabic’s relation arsenic a span for literate exchange.
‘Beyond boundaries’
Professor Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, who inspired the translation and wrote the instauration to the book, said rendering an Assamese people enactment into Arabic allows lit to determination beyond linguistic and geographic boundaries and opens a meaningful dialog betwixt determination Indian penning and the Arabic-speaking world.
The Arabic variation of Burhi Ayir Xadhu was primitively published successful Cairo, Egypt, successful May 2025 by Dar al-Misriya al-Maghribiya lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi, and its Indian motorboat astatine JNU brought it earlier an assemblage profoundly engaged with literate and taste exchange.
This milestone underscores the value of translation successful connecting divers literate traditions and reaffirms the relation of languages successful fostering taste knowing successful a globalised world.
