Christien Bono’s Quran Translation into French, A Novel Rendering
The French translation of the Quran by Christian Bono is an original and novel rendering and an outstanding one.
There are 32 translations of the Holy Quran in French. Some of these renditions, especially the earlier ones done by orientalists, are no lacking in ideological prejudices. Some others have weaknesses in content and conveying the message of the Quran. The third group, rendered by Muslims themselves, are not fluent in French.
Hence, French Muslim Christien (Yahya) Bono,who holds a PhD in Islamic philosophy and mysticism, and Javad Hadidi, a seminary scholar who has a PhD in French language and literature, embarked on translating the Quran at the invitation of the Tarjoman-e Vahy (translation of revelation) Institute.
They aimed to present a new rendering of the Quran in French that is free from weakness other renderings have.
The translation by Christien Bono and Javad Hadidi is the result of three years of joint efforts. It has been published in 624 pages and includes explanations about Surahs Fatiha and Baqara, word-for-word translation of the verses, a brief account of the studies about certain words or verses, and an Arabic-French glossary.
The two made efforts not to be influenced by previous translations and to translate the Quran using Quran exegeses and Arabic sources, which has been unprecedented in Quran translation into European languages.
Christien Bono was born into a Catholic French family in the German city of Freiburg in 1957. He lived in Germany and Algeria until the age of 10 and then moved to the French city of Strasburg. He got interested in oriental religions and started studying works on these religions, making trips to different countries like Spain, Morocco, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
He then studied the works of French Muslim philosopher Rene Guenon and inspired by his works embraced Islam in 1979.
Bono got his PhD from the French University of Sorbonne in 1995. His dissertation titled “Theology in Imam Khomeini’s Philosophical and Mystical works” was selected as the research of the year in 1999. When working on his thesis, Bono came to Iran and studied Islamic philosophy and mysticism with Sayyed Jalal Ashtiani in Mashhad.
Due to his deep devotion to Imam Reza (AS), Bono lived in Mashhad for 15 years and was recognized as a servant of Imam Reza (AS) in 2001. He is currently working on his post-doctoral degree featuring Mulla Sadra’s Al-Hikmat Al-Muta'liya (transcendent theosophy).
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Hence, French Muslim Christien (Yahya) Bono,who holds a PhD in Islamic philosophy and mysticism, and Javad Hadidi, a seminary scholar who has a PhD in French language and literature, embarked on translating the Quran at the invitation of the Tarjoman-e Vahy (translation of revelation) Institute.
They aimed to present a new rendering of the Quran in French that is free from weakness other renderings have.
The translation by Christien Bono and Javad Hadidi is the result of three years of joint efforts. It has been published in 624 pages and includes explanations about Surahs Fatiha and Baqara, word-for-word translation of the verses, a brief account of the studies about certain words or verses, and an Arabic-French glossary.
The two made efforts not to be influenced by previous translations and to translate the Quran using Quran exegeses and Arabic sources, which has been unprecedented in Quran translation into European languages.
Christien Bono was born into a Catholic French family in the German city of Freiburg in 1957. He lived in Germany and Algeria until the age of 10 and then moved to the French city of Strasburg. He got interested in oriental religions and started studying works on these religions, making trips to different countries like Spain, Morocco, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
He then studied the works of French Muslim philosopher Rene Guenon and inspired by his works embraced Islam in 1979.
Bono got his PhD from the French University of Sorbonne in 1995. His dissertation titled “Theology in Imam Khomeini’s Philosophical and Mystical works” was selected as the research of the year in 1999. When working on his thesis, Bono came to Iran and studied Islamic philosophy and mysticism with Sayyed Jalal Ashtiani in Mashhad.
Due to his deep devotion to Imam Reza (AS), Bono lived in Mashhad for 15 years and was recognized as a servant of Imam Reza (AS) in 2001. He is currently working on his post-doctoral degree featuring Mulla Sadra’s Al-Hikmat Al-Muta'liya (transcendent theosophy).
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