DUSHANBE, December 18, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon today held a meeting with representatives of Tajik intelligentsia.
Congratulating them on the upcoming Idi Qurbon, the president presented them The Koran in Tajik language and two-volume Tafsir al-Tabari (the commentary on the Koran) by medieval prominent and famous Persian historian and exegete of the Koran Abi Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, published in Cyrillic script, each.
The Koran was translated into Tajik by Muhammadjon Umarov, researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies and Written Heritage of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. .
50,000 copies of the holy book of Islam in the Tajik language have been published at the Dushanbe publishing house Irfon.
Tafsir al-Tabari in Cyrillic script, an edition of a 1,000 copies, has been published at the Khujand publishing house Nouri Marifat.
The Koran and Tafsir al-Tabari have been published at the expense of presidential reserve fund.
Abi Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838-923) was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historians and exegetes of the Koran, most famous for his Tarikh al-Tabari (History of the Prophets and Kings) and Tafsir al-Tabari
Tarikh al-Tabari is generally known as the Annals. This is a universal history from the Creation to AD 915, and is renowned for its detail and accuracy concerning Muslim and Middle Eastern history.
The commentary on the Koran (Tafsir al-Tabari) was marked by the same fullness of detail as the Annals. The size of the work and the independence of judgment in it seem to have prevented it from having a large circulation.
