Translation is not just a transfer between languages; it is a civilisational craft that renews thought and gives languages new concepts so that they may survive and flourish.
The golden age: the Abbasid House of Wisdom (8th–10th c. CE)
The translation movement peaked in the Abbasid age, especially with the “House of Wisdom” under al-Ma’mun, an institutionalisation of knowledge by the state. Pioneers such as Hunayn b. Ishaq and Thabit b. Qurra (who corrected the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest) enriched philosophy, mathematics and medicine and made Arabic a global medium of science. The caliphs rewarded scholars and translators generously.
Another movement: translation under the Ottomans (15th–19th c. CE)
A neglected “second” movement began with Sultan Mehmed II (1451–1481), who saw translation as a strategy for building a world empire. Educated in several languages (Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin), he supported translation with a focus on practical sciences:
- Geography: Ptolemy's Geography was translated from Greek into Arabic under George Amiroutzes and his son.
- Medicine: al-Zahrawi's al-Tasrif was translated from Arabic into Turkish, with additions and surgical illustrations.
- History: Plutarch's Lives was translated to shape historical awareness.
Later, translation became a tool for meeting the European challenge: the first Ottoman printing press (1729) founded by Ibrahim Muteferrika to translate Western political ideas and diagnose the state's ailments, and the Translation Chamber of the Sublime Porte (1821), which became a centre for teaching European languages and international law and trained a generation of diplomats.
Important works translated in these periods remain unedited and unprinted. Examining manuscript catalogues and tools such as Al-Mufahris can guide you to these research treasures: type “translation” in the book-title field and choose Turkey as the country, and a long list appears.
