Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali's Arabic Letters A Review and Contemporary Guidance on Urdu Translations

Abstract

Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali was a renowned poet, prose writer and writer of Urdu
language and literature. Along with Urdu, he was proficient in Arabic and Persian
languages. These seven letters of his are a fine example of Arabic prose. They use
fluent Arabic language, however, many errors of writing have come to light in them,
which have been corrected as much as possible, however, these errors have not
been pointed out so that the continuity of these letters is not affected. The translation
of these letters has not been faithful to the words, but the meaning has been
presented in a concise manner. For example, surah Yousaf: 88 the translation of the
verse in the first letter is as follows: “We have been besieged by calamities from all
sides, so help us. And fill our empty cups.” Although this is not a translation of the
verse but a claim, the translation of the verse is as follows: “O my beloved! We and
our families have been afflicted and we have brought a small fortune, so give us full
measure and give us charity. Indeed, Allah rewards those who give charity.” The
translation of the supplications at the beginning and end of these books has also
been omitted, or they have been mentioned explicitly in the translation (without the
Urdu translation).