Translation Activities in the Arabic World

Translation is an activity that has been done since the existence of humanity. Translation, from a different language to the mother language is a complex and difficult process. The important thing in translation is to translate the translated text to the target language with the closest meaning. There are many factors affecting translation, the most important of which is to know the culture in which the translated work is written and find it in the most appropriate word and transfer it to the target language. Translation, is an ongoing activity and throughout history the need for translation has arisen to provide communication between communities through economic, cultural relations and conquests they have provided communication between them through translation. Human beings have noticed that translation has been important since its existence, and has used translation to deal with communities from other cultures. Translation activities to resolve conflicts that may arise between different languages and cultures and appeared in the 2nd century BC. In the Arabs, the first foundations of translation activities were laid during the Umayyads, thanks to the personal curiosity of the people who ruled the state. In this period, translation activities could not go beyond the interest of statesmen in translation. It was a period when the translation of historical works belonging to the old periods was done. The development of translation activities in the Arabs has manifested itself during the Abbasids period. The works of ancient cultures were translated into Arabic in the translation center called Beytu'l-ḥikme, which was established to carry out translation activities during this period. In this context, it has given information about translation activities, the meaning of the translation word, the time period it appeared, the reason for its emergence and also three major translation movements is mentioned.

Keywords

Translation, major translation movements, Beytu’l-ḥikme, the important cultural centers.