Halabja unveils new Quran translation in Hawrami dialect

HALABJA — A new translation of the Quran into the Hawrami dialect, a variant of Kurdish, was released Friday at a ceremony in Khurmal, Halabja. The translation, the third of its kind, marks an effort to make the sacred text accessible to speakers of this regional language.

Iranian Kurdish writer and translator Ali Fathi, who spent 14 years working on the project, told 964media, “I have been working on this for 14 years, and finally this year, I was able to publish it. The language I used is understandable to the people of every village and area in Hawraman.” He added, “I benefited both from classical Hawrami literature and the contemporary spoken language of all Hawraman regions.”

The Hawraman region spans parts of Iran’s Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces as well as the Halabja and Sulaymaniyah areas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Fathi explained that he intentionally incorporated words and expressions that have fallen out of everyday use among younger generations, aiming to revive and preserve the rich linguistic heritage. “Although this was a difficult task, I tried to keep them alive in an organized manner,” he said.

Previous translations of the Quran into Kurdish have been made in dialects such as Sorani and Badini.

Born in 1956 in Palangan village in Kermanshah province, Fathi has published seven other works on religious studies.