Gandhara Hindko Board, a literary cultural translation of holy Quran published
PESHAWAR: The Gandhara Hindko Board, a literary, cultural and social welfare organisation, has published a versified Hindko translation of the Holy Quran.
The translation has been rendered by a noted writer Abdul Ghafoor Malik (late) of Abbottabad who has also translated sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) under the title of Nitrian Hadeesan.
The versified Hindko translation spans 1,234 pages. On the right side is the Arabic text of the Holy Quran while the Hindko translation appears on the left side. There is a glossary of 142 frequently used Hindko words, which have been translated into Urdu and placed in the beginning for the convenience of the readers.
Printed by a reputed publishing house of Peshawar, the versified translation has been published on fine paper in two colours and presented in an attractive and colourful box. A portion of the finances for the entire project was provided by the Cultural Department of NWFP when the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government was in power in the province. The funds were also raised by Haji Haleem Jan Sethi and Khwaja Khalid Sultan, two leading businessmen from Peshawar, who met the traders of the provincial metropolis and won their cooperation for the noble cause.
Abdul Ghafoor Malik was born in Silhed area of Abbottabad, Hazara Division, in 1923 and died in 2004. The literatus got down to versified translation work almost 20 years ago. He handed the manuscript to Gandhara Hindko Board in 2004 and the project materialised after efforts of four years.
Recording comments, Professor Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan, chairman of the Gandhara Hindko Board, said it was an honour for the literary organisation to bring the work of extreme importance in fine print. Idara Farogh-e-Hindko, another literary body of Peshawar, has had the honour of publishing the prose translation of the Holy Quran in 2004. It is very difficult task that has been accomplished by a team of dedicated literary activists, said the academician, writer, critique, columnist and laureate of prestigious Tamgha-e-Imtiaz while expressing satisfaction at the work and praising Associate Professor Dr Adnan Gul and Muhammad Ziauddin for their coordination and interest.
Haider Zaman Haider, the first translator of the Holy Quran in Hindko prose and secretary of the Hindko Adabi Jirga, Hazara, Waqasul Islam son of Abdul Ghafoor Malik and Muhammad Rafique Kamran, who revised the Hindko text, said the work gave them spiritual satisfaction.
Muhammad Ziauddin, the person who oversaw all the arrangements, said apart from the above-mentioned people, the efforts of Attaur Rehman, Abdul Wahab, Aamir Shehzad and Hafiz Haroon Rasheed were highly commendable.
Zia also recalled and appreciated the cooperation extended by former NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, erstwhile senior minister Sirajul Haq, the then chief secretary Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, provincial Cultural Department, Haji Haleem Jan Sethi and Khwaja Khalid Sultan who ensured finances for the important project.
NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has promised the Gandhara Hindko Board to hold the launch ceremony of the versified translation of the Holy Quran at the Governors House, Peshawar.
