Facets from the Translation Movement in Classic Arab Culture

When investigating the early evolution of the Arab Islamic civilization, one can hardly evade the role played by translation. It formed the cornerstone of the evolution of the Arab civilization and thought. Pioneers of translation were always in competition to expand their knowledge as well as introduce Islam to peoples of other faiths and civilizations. This led to the recognition by leaders of translators who were accorded a distinguished status that was well-deserved as many had dedicated their lives to the translation enterprise. Their devotion to transferring new ideas, especially those coming from ancient Greek origins, played a major role in introducing many novel ideas into the Islamic Arabic culture. Later, all these ideas were reintroduced into Western culture through Arabic because most of the original scripts were lost, and the only sources were preserved in Arabic.