SIBF promotes cross-cultural bonds through translated books

Translations of classics have been a great binding factor for the world at large, and the sheer volume of translated works at the SIBF 2025 makes its goal of being a cultural bridge and meeting place truly relevant.

- Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Sharjah Book Authority’s (SBA) translation grant “Turjuman” has provided the necessary fillip for this cross-cultural connection and literary enrichment.

The Arabic language is one of the oldest and most widely spoken in the world, and its wealth of literature has now received more popularity because of the universal appeal of writers like Kahlil Gibran, Rumi and Naguib Mahfouz.

The Arabic language has been extremely receptive of works from other languages, although the volume of translations from Arabic to English is still in a growing stage.

For instance, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, which is exhibiting its books at SIBF 2025, has translated over 1,400 books from other languages to Arabic.