YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Within the framework of festive events on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the presentation of the full and comprehensive translation of the Holy Book of Muslims - the Quran took place at the Union of Writers of Armenia on February 2. Until now no translation of this kind has been made in Armenia. The Matenadaran has two non-comprehensive (and not free of mistakes) versions of the Quran's translation, which were made 110 years ago from Arabic and French. Taking this circumstance into consideration, translator Eduard Hakhverdian started the Koran's translation at the suggestion of the Iranian embassy. Cultural advisor of the Iranian embassy Reza Atufi said that the translation of the Quran from Persian has a strategical importance for deepening the friendly relations between Iran and Armenia. He is convinced that Muslims and Christians should have a good knowledge of religious stories and dogmatic meanings of each other, since this knowledge will help prevent intolerance and disagreement among nations. In the words of Eduard Hakhverdian, the translation of the Quran lasted 3 years, and today he can state with confidence that "we have a precisely translated Quran". "I was quite pedantic in translating the Holy Book. Each translated sura (chapter) was sent to Tehran's Iranology Center to pass an expert examination there," he underlined. Eduard Hakhverdian did not conceal that he had some worries when undertaking the translation as this is not an ordinary book but the Holy Book of the whole Islamic world, so each inaccuracy may result in misunderstanding. The Armenian translation of the Quran was published in 700 copies. It has 1,224 pages, including the original in Arabic.

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