Imam Qoli Batvani’s Georgian Translation of Quran
Imam Qoli Batvani was born 1957 in Fereydunshahr, a city in Iran’s central province of Isfahan where many people of Georgian descent live. He finished his elementary school in Fereydunshahr and in 1971 moved to Georgia with his family. He continued his studies there, entering the university of medical sciences in Tbilisi. As a top student, he was awarded scholarships to visit universities in different countries.
After the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, he returned to Iran and started cultural activities, including translation of books into the Georgian language.
His main work is the translation of the Quran into Georgian. It is a simple and fluent translation that has helped to introduce the Islamic culture to Georgia.
Akbar Moqaddasi, who has edited the translation, says it has some minor problems that were edited by a team made up of a religious scholar and two Georgian language experts.
He said it was the first translation of the Quran in Georgian and therefore faced many difficulties, including the need to coin new terms that are acceptable to the target language speakers.
According to Moqaddasi, many religious works in the Georgian language were studied to that end.
Imam Qoli Batvani’s Georgian translation of the Quran has several features:
- It comes with the original Arabic as well as Persian translation of the Quran.
- The translation was fully done in Iran.
- Since no book in the Georgian language had been written in Iran and the Georgian language in the country was oral, the translation serves as a foundation for the culture of Georgians living in Iran based on the Islamic-Iranian spirituality and this has created a bridge between Georgians and Iranians.
