The Glory and Grace of Almighty Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, have enabled me to complete the English translation of INSAF NAMA in December last. Photocopies of the edited typescript were dispatched to some of the learned people for their perusal with a request to write a foreword. Hazrat Syed Ali Bartar and Hazrat M. Syed Yusuf alias Khaleel responded with the forewords and a list of the proposed changes and suggestions to improve the text. The changes have been made. I am grateful to them for the trouble they took to go through the script, to write the forewords and to make suggestions for changes. The credit for improving the script goes to them. But if any mistakes persist, I alone am responsible and to be blamed for. I request the esteemed readers to inform me of any mistakes they come across while reading this book, so that necessary corrections could be made in future editions.

The translation work was not easy. I sought the help of some of my friends. They did help me where they could. Others praised me and my commitment to work and my painstaking efforts. I thank them all for the help and encouragement.

Innumerable Quranic Verses have been quoted in Arabic in the book. Its original text is in Persian. I am not well versed in both languages. So, I took the Urdu translation by the late Hazrat Syed Dilawar Goray Miyan (RA) of Begum Bazaar, Hyderabad, as the basis of my English translation. However, I did try to compare the Urdu translation with the original Persian text with the help of some friends and my meagre knowledge of the two languages. And I am satisfied with the outcome.

In INSAF NAMA, references to Quranic Verses are given in Juz and Ruku' (Part and Section). However, I have given the Surah and Ayat (Chapter and Verse) numbers for reference. This way, it is easier to find the Verses. But, unfortunately, the number of Ayaat (Verses) differs from translator to translator. At the end of the reference in the footnotes, I have given the initials of the translators. Where the initials are omitted, it means that the Quranic Verse is translated according to the version of the author of INSAF NAMA. The serial number of the Ayat (Verse) in the footnote in this translation is as given by the translator in his book.

The texts of the translation of the Ayaat, as copied from the standard translations of the Quran, are printed in Italics.
Some of the references of the Ayaat in the Persian text were not correct. This could be because of the constant copying of the text or due to the calligrapher's mistakes. In the beginning I found it very difficult to locate the Quranic Verses in the printed copies of the Quran or its translations. A friend on Haj pilgrimage brought an Index of Quran for me. If any one of the words from an Ayat is taken, the Index gives a list of all the Ayaat in which that word occurs. With the help of this, my work was rendered easier. A computer version of this Index too is available. If you enter a word and ask for researching, the computer gives the list of all the Ayaat in which the word is used. But this too is in Arabic software. Those, who have access to a computer and the software and know how to operate them, can benefit from them.

There are a number of Urdu, Persian and Arabic quotations of poetry in the text of INSAF NAMA. I have translated them in simple prose and have not set them to rhyme, rhythm and meter or to the other rules of English poetry. However, where the terms like couplet, quartet, poem, stanza, et cetra are given in the original text, they have been used in their respective places in this translation.

The numbers and headings of the chapters and the sections are given at the appropriate places. Where a chapter has more than one section (fasal), the number is given in decimals. Where at the beginning of a chapter there is a single digit, like 1, 2, 3 and so on, it means Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, et cetra. But where the number is given in decimals as 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and so on, it means Chapter 5, Section 1; Chapter 5, Section 2; Chapter 5, Section 3; and so on.

There were no serial numbers in the original Persian text or its Urdu translation. In the English translation, I have given the serial numbers. But they are more in the nature of paragraph numbers than those of the narrations.

The project has been financed by MAHDAVIA FOUNDATION. Wing Commander Mahamood Khan has helped me in making arrangements for the publication of this book with the printers and other agencies. I thank them for the assistance rendered.

May Allah bless them with His choicest divine rewards.

-- Faqir Syed Ziaullah

| TOP | HOME |