JEDDAH: King Saud University Translation Center (KSUTC) has won the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation for institutions in recognition of its outstanding contributions in the field. Other winners of the prize's five categories are from South Korea, Sudan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, according to an official statement.
The winners were announced during a ceremony at King Abdul Aziz Public Library in Riyadh yesterday by Saeed bin Fayez Al-Saeed, chairman of the prize's scientific committee.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, adviser to the king, said the prize was instituted for promoting the dissemination of knowledge and encouraging cultural exchange. "It's high time for translation to play its expected role of transferring culture and scientific knowledge from West to East," he said.
Deputy Education Minister Faisal bin Muammar, who is supervisor of the library, said the prize would contribute to a cultural and scientific renaissance in the Arab world. "Cultural enlightenment is one the hallmarks of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah's development vision," he said.
Al-Saeed said KSUTC had translated more than 300 works into Arabic from various languages, including English, Italian, Japanese, French and Turkish, and vice versa, covering natural sciences, information technology, and humanities.
The center has launched a specialized science translation series, including the Oxford Basic Series in chemistry, the physics dictionary, a general medical series under the title Lecture Notes, and other works in the medical specialist area. "It has developed a streamlined process for accurately translating high quality works into various target languages," he said.
The award in humanities from Arabic into other languages was shared by Choi Yuong Kil, a Korean professor of Arabic Studies at Myongji University in Seoul, and Mohammad Al-Tahir Al-Mesawi, a Sudanese professor of philosophy and Islamic heritage at the University of Malaysia.
Choi was given the award for his excellent translation of Arraheeq Al-Makhtoum, a book about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) written by Sheikh Safi-Ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri into Korean. It was the first translation of the biography of the Prophet into Korean from an Arabic original.
Al-Mesawi was selected for the award for his translation into English of Maqaassid Al-Shariah Al-Islamiyyah (The Objectives of Shariah) by Mohammad Al-Tahir bin Ashur. "Al-Mesawi was able to accurately produce an excellent translation that maintained consistency with the original," Al-Saeed said.
Fayez Al-Suyaa, a Jordanian professor of socio-economics, Bander bin Nasser Al-Otaibi and Haniyyah Mahmoud Ahmad Merza, Saudi professors of special education at King Saud University, shared the prize in humanities for translation from other languages into Arabic. Al-Suyaa won the award for his translation from English to Arabic of "The Age of Capital: 1848-1875" by Eric Hobsbawm. The Saudi professors received the prize for their translation from English into Arabic of "Teaching Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities" by Mark Wolrey, Melinda Ault and Patricia Doyle.
The prize for the best translation in natural sciences from other languages into Arabic went to Hatim Al-Najdy, a Syrian professor of electronics and communication for his translation of the book "System Engineering Management" written by Benjamin Blanchard. The prize for translation in natural sciences from Arabic into other languages was withheld due to a lack of nominees. However, the amount specified for this category will be given to Salma Al-Khadra Al-Jayyusi, a Palestinian, and professor F?hndrich Hartmut, a German.
Al-Jayyusi has translated many Arabic heritage and literary works into English while Hartmut translated more than 112 works from Arabic into German.
© Arab News 2009
