March 8. On this date in 2015, the Universal House of Justice wrote "The custom of publishing interlinear editions of the Qur’án arose out of particular conditions and assumptions within Islám that do not exist in the Bahá’í Faith. Although such editions served the need for non-Arabic speakers to understand what they were reading, interlinear editions of the Bahá’í Writings are unnecessary for Bahá’ís, as believers who do not know the original languages are free to read the Writings in translation. Those who wish to compare the translation with the Arabic or Persian text can do so easily enough by referring to the relevant editions, while printing both in juxtaposition would tend to distract all other readers from their primary focus ― the reading and study of the Text."

 

March 8. On this date in 2015, the Universal House of Justice wrote "The custom of publishing interlinear editions of the Qur’án arose out of particular conditions and assumptions within Islám that do not exist in the Bahá’í Faith. Although such editions served the need for non-Arabic speakers to understand what they were reading, interlinear editions of the Bahá’í Writings are unnecessary for Bahá’ís, as believers who do not know the original languages are free to read the Writings in translation. Those who wish to compare the translation with the Arabic or Persian text can do so easily enough by referring to the relevant editions, while printing both in juxtaposition would tend to distract all other readers from their primary focus ― the reading and study of the Text.

8 March 2015

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

Your email letter of 21 January 2015, regarding interlinear editions of Bahá’í Writings and the availability of the Computer Translation Aid (CTA) software, has been received by the Universal House of Justice, which has asked us to respond as follows.

The custom of publishing interlinear editions of the Qur’án arose out of particular conditions and assumptions within Islám that do not exist in the Bahá’í Faith. Although such editions served the need for non-Arabic speakers to understand what they were reading, interlinear editions of the Bahá’í Writings are unnecessary for Bahá’ís, as believers who do not know the original languages are free to read the Writings in translation. Those who wish to compare the translation with the Arabic or Persian text can do so easily enough by referring to the relevant editions, while printing both in juxtaposition would tend to distract all other readers from their primary focus ― the reading and study of the Text.

Your suggestion regarding the benefits of an open availability of the CTA software has been noted.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat