TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) –- Iranians are the first people who thought of translating the Holy Qur’an into Persian, said contemporary poet Ali Mousavi Gamraroudi.

The first translator of the Holy Qur’an from Arabic into Persian was Salman Farsi, Iranian companion of Prophet Mohammad (S), added Garmaroudi.

“The first language of translation of the Holy Qur’an was Persian since Salman Farsi was reading it for Iranians in Persian in order to promote the religion of Islam. But later the precise translation of the Holy Qur’an began in the Samanid era. The Samanid king asked religious sages and clerics of the time, “Is translation of the Holy Qur’an into Persian religiously approved?” And they replied positively and then the translation officially began in Iran,” added Garmaroudi. Pointing to the old translations of Iranians, he added, “The oldest translation of the Holy Qur’an is “Translation and Interpretation of Zahiri”, but Dr. Ali Ravaqi recently announced that the translation of “Qur’an-e Qods” shows that it is older than Zahiri’s.”

“There have been several translations during the centuries of which the most important ones are “Meybodi Translation,” and translation of Abubakr Atiq of Neyshabour known as Sourababdi which is beautifully fluent and eloquent. There have been dozens of good translations before the Islamic Revolution including translations of Abolqassem Payandeh, Zeinolabedin Rahnama, Elahi Qomshei, and Kazem Moazzam.”

There has been a great change in translation after the Islamic Revolution, he noted adding there has been one translation almost every year such as translations of Khorramshahi, Fouladvand, Mojtabavi, Ansari, and Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.

He also mentioned that the increasing number of translations is a good sign since with each new translation we take one step closer to the final translation.