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ABU DHABI 2 May 2011 – The Swedish magazine "DIK Forum" stressed the important role played by Kalima, the translation initiative of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) to build bridges between world cultures and revive the translation movement in the Middle East.

The last edition of the magazine dedicated its cover page to Kalima with the headline: “Kalima project seeks to build bridges between cultures”.

“Kalima came to overcome the cultural drought caused by the limited number of foreign books translated into Arabic in recent centuries,” said the magazine adding that the translation project aims to build cultural bridges and revive the ancient Middle Eastern translation traditions.

The magazine depicted Kalima’s history; expressing surprise that a number of books translated into Greek was five times the number of books translated into Arabic although Arabic speakers are twenty times the number of Greek speakers, according to a UN report issued in 2005.

DIK Forum stressed that Kalima “is part of the ‘grand UAE strategy’ and its translations are characterized by accuracy, beauty of design and abundance.”

Kalima has published more than 500 books since its creation in 2009.

The magazine noted that translated books’ subjects included literary, classics, poetry philosophy, psychology, social sciences, arts, sports, history, geography and biography in addition to children’s books from various languages.

It described Kalima as a hub for translation and publishing, as its publications are distributed to over 500 publishers in the Middle East, US and Europe.

The magazine highlighted the way Kalima seeks to enrich the Arab library, introduce the best international writers to Arab readers and revive ancient translation traditions in the region. It said the project “seeks to restore the golden age of Arab and Islamic culture.”

In an interview with DIK Forum, Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Director of Kalima, described the “Bait al-Hikma” (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad as having been the heartbeat of thought and enlightenment in the Golden Islamic Age, cultural institution and a translation centre that comprised the most important translations in the world.

Bin Tamim told the magazine that Kalima had been inspired by the House of Wisdom.

The magazine noted the difficulties faced by Kalima in the beginning. The project did not have a database of professional translators. However, after nearly three years of its founding, Kalima has now a list of about 500 professional translators from around the world, which helped support Arabic translators.

The magazine also pointed to Kalima’s strong relationship with foreign publishers and authors through copyright agreements.

The magazine explained the details of translation process of each book. After the translator finishes translating the book, Kalima hands the work over to a professional translator, who revises and edits it. The work is then transferred to proofreaders, who master Arabic grammar.

Bin Tamim told DIK Forum that "our books are very costly because they require great efforts to translate and print."

Kalima has so far translated one Swedish book entitled “Rasmus and the Vagabond” written by Astrid Lindgren into Arabic in collaboration with the Al Muna publishing house.

However, according to the latest news, Kalima published the Arabic translation of a Swedish poetry collection entitled “The Gunnar Ekelof World” on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The collection was written by the renowned Swedish poet Gunnar Ekelof in the twentieth century, and was translated by Dr. Saleh Al Awini.

Bin Tamim, whose picture was on DIK Forum’s front cover, told the magazine that “the selection of books that are suitable for translation is a difficult task, because Kalima’s policy seeks to achieve a balance between academic books and books of high literary quality.”

“We seek to create conditions for interaction between East and West. We believe that we open the windows through the translation of literature and give people an opportunity to learn from other cultures. Polls show that there is a lot that Muslims want to give to the world in this field, but they have not yet been given the opportunity,” bin Tamin told DIK Forum.

The magazine also mentioned the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center. It reported that the Mosque, which opened in 2007, is the largest mosque in the UAE and can accommodate up to 40,000 worshippers. It added that the dazzling Mosque is not just a place to pray, but a lighthouse that offers the opportunity for all people belonging to various religions and beliefs to know more about leniency and simplicity of Islam.