An Analysis of the First Literary Period Translations in the History of Pashto Literature

د پښتو ادب تاریخ د لومړۍ ادبي دورې د ژباړو تحلیلي څېړنه

Abstract

The ancient period of the history of Pashto literature spans from the second century (Hijri) to the tenth (Hijri). Along with the many advancements in Pashto, this literary era also sees the strengthening of ties with other languages and the start of a number of translations into Pashto. Hashim bin Zaid al-Sarwani opens the translation for the first time in Pashto literature. He was a poet of the third century (Hijri), and he translated an Arabic poetry into Pashto for the first time. Following Hashim, around the close of the 9th and start of the 10th centuries, Zarghuna Kakarie translated Saadi's Bostan from Persian to Pashto. These two systematic translations, the first in the Ghazal style and the second in the Masnavi form, both deal with moral and societal themes and are translated into Pashto in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. Thus yet, just a few authors have discussed the themes; no specialized writings have been done about the analysis of this topic. Descriptive and analytical methods have been used to study the material gathered from many books, as the topic requires its own analysis and explanation. Abu Muhammad Hashim and Zarghuna Kakarie completed the first literary translations in Pashto, both of which maintained the majority of the language's morphology and linguistic combinations.