TEHRAN – Iranian translator of Holy Quran into English Rahim Parchebaf-Dowlati was honored for his lifelong efforts in translating the Holy Book during a ceremony held at Tehran’s Rayzan International Conference Hall on Friday.

The ceremony was attended by Head of Iran’s Presidential Office Mohammad Nahavandian, and a number of researchers, scholars and students of the master, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Saturday.

“Several years ago when I was in the United States, I was looking for a copy of the Quran with an English translation and I found one translated by a Jew. I felt sad that a Jew had translated Quran and not me as an Iranian. So I promised myself to spend the rest of my life translating the Quran,” Parchebaf-Dowlati said at the ceremony.

He called the translation of Quran an effort to achieve the original meaning. “Following the study of different translations of the Quran in other countries, I tried to focus on producing a simple and acceptable translation of the Holy Quran.”

English is an international language and translation of the Quran into English can fulfill the need of a large number of Muslims and non-Muslims who are not familiar with Arabic or Persian but are looking for the truth, Parchebaf-Dowlati explained.

“Those Muslims familiar with Arabic or Persian can also benefit from the English translation in order to express their religious beliefs to others,” he added.

Parchebaf-Dowlati has also translated Nahj-ul-Balagha of Imam Ali (AS) into English.

In his short speech Nahavandian also said that becoming familiar with modern skills and languages to promote religion began to manifest itself in the life of master Parchebaf-Dowlati.

“We have repeatedly heard that preserving the religious spirit is the social responsibility of Muslims, and this promotion helps preserve the life of religious culture. We need to transfer culture to others and religious culture is not an exception,” Nahavandian added.

Photo: Rahim Parchebaf-Dowlati attends a meeting that literati held in Tehran on May 29, 2015 to honor the Iranian translator of Holy Quran into English.

RM/YAW
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