Bound editions of the recently published Maltese translation of the Koran were donated to the University library by Imam Muhammad El-Sadi (third from left) on behalf of the World Islamic Call Society which sponsored and published the work.

The publications were presented to pro-rector Alfred Vella (second left) in the presence of the Anthony Mangion director Library Services (left) and the translator, Martin R. Zammit, from the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Studies.

Dr Zammit said this was the first-ever Maltese translation from an Islamic perspective and that the Maltese translation ranks among the closest to the Arabic originals.

The work entailed an exhaustive consultation of Arabic works, and rendering the original into the best Maltese idiom, reflecting the common linguistic typology behind both languages and the strong grammatical, lexicographical, and syntactical affinity between the two texts.

The publication features parallel texts for the Arabic and Maltese versions, textual explanations, introductory notes, several appendices, a glossary, and an index.