Siraj-ul-Absar (English) - Khalifatullah Mehdi (AHS)

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Many of the above books have been printed and some are yet to be. However most of the
above books are available at www.khalifatullahmehdi.info.
The team which runs this website had requested Hazrat Ziaullah Saheb to translate Siraj-ul-
Absar. They expressed a desire that since he had translated most of the first generation
Mahdavia books, they wanted to read his translation of this book also. He was reluctant to
work on this translation, as another translation already existed. He did not start the work for a
long time. But the team at www.khalifatullahmehdi.info persisted with their request.
Ultimately, giving in to their pressure, he started to work on the translation of Siraj-ul-Absar
in June 2010. The translation proceeded at quick speed, but in early December of 2010 he fell
down, had a shoulder injury and was bedridden. He could not continue the translation
although he was desperate to do it. He still had a few pages of the book left to be translated,
when the call of the Creator came. On the morning of December 26, 2010 / 19 Muharram,
1432 Hijri, he departed from this world. Inna Lillahi wo Inna Ilaihi Rajioon – To Allah we
belong, and to Him we shall return.
In a period of nearly 18 years since 1992, he has rendered yeoman service to the cause of
Mahdavia literature in the English language. The translations, which he has done, are the fruit
of hard labour, perseverance and a dedication which is rarely seen. The reader of his books
will hardly be aware of the efforts which went into the translation. It is easier to write a book
than to translate it. A translator has to stay true to the meaning, which the author of the book
intends, but yet present the matter in an easily readable way in the translated language. The
task is made much more difficult in the translation of religious literature, especially Mahdavia
literature which contains unique terminology and deals with subjects that have no comparable
reference in the literature of the outside world. But Hazrat Ziaullah Saheb succeeded in
transcending these hurdles and wrote in a language that was easily understood by all and yet
conveyed the meaning of the original text.
Praising the translation excellence of Hazrat Ziaullah Saheb, Hazrat Syed Ali Bartar Saheb,
the well-known scholar of the Mahdavia community, writes in the foreword of the English
translation of Insaf Nama:
Insaf Nama is a sizeable book with a large number of Quranic Verses, Prophetical
Traditions (Ahadiths) and the Imam’s narrations (Naqliyat). Its translation into
English is a difficult job. But Ziaullah Saheb has done it in an easy-to-read style. The
reader may feel that he is reading an English book, not a translation. His work needs
to be praised.
Hazrat Mashaiq Syed Yusuf Khaleel Saheb of Panagudi has written in the prologue of the
same book:
His style and language are simple, clear, direct, effective, to the point and easily
intelligible for the readers.
His translation journey was riddled with testing times as well. After he completed his
translation of Insaf Nama, he lost his eyesight. Recounting this incident in the Translator’s
Note of Naqliyat, he wrote:
After I had completed the work on Insaf Nama and its proof reading was in progress,
all of a sudden I lost my eyesight. That was an extraordinarily frustrating experience.
In the same condition, I performed the Haj pilgrimage with the help Allah provided
through friends. I was more disappointed when, on return and after a cataract eye
operation, the surgeon told me that he “doubted” if I would ever be able to read and
write again. However, I supplicated that Allah may restore my eyesight to enable me
to continue my translation work. One day, after the prayers, when I opened my eyes, I