An English translation of the first Chinese translation of the Qur'an

While Muslims may have lived in China since as early as the first Islamic century, the first translation/interpretation of the Qurʼānic text itself into Chinese was not made until the 1860s.

In the 1860s, the Chinese scholar Ma Dexin—who had made the hajj, had an audience with the Ottoman sultan, and studied for a few months at al-Azhar—tried his hand at the first systematic Chinese interpretation of the Qurʼān.

Only his translations of the first five suwar now survive. But for reference, here's his translation of al-Fātiḥah, with a translation into English of the literal Chinese text:

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第一章發諦海

(1) 吾誦至仁至親真宰之名而起。

(2) 是讚總歸至尊化育萬世。

(3) 至仁至親。

(4) 綱維真世。

(5) 僕等獨奉至尊而惟望至尊之相。

(6) 嗚呼至尊導愚僕於正路。

(7) 正路者真宰特受大任非太過亦非不及。

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First Chapter: Fadihai

(1) I recite the name of the True Lord,¹ the Most Benevolent, the Most Intimate. And I begin.

(2) All praise returns to the Most Honored One, creator and nourisher of myriad worlds,

(3) The Most Benevolent, the Most Intimate,

(4) Guiding Principle² for the True World.

(5) [We] servants revere only the Most Honored One, and hope for help only from the Most Honored One.

(6) O, Most Honored One, guide [we] foolish servants upon the straight path,

(7) The straight path upon which the True Lord has entrusted a great responsibility, the path that is neither excessive nor inadequate.³

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¹ Ma uses the word 真宰 zhenzai to translate ٱلل‍َّٰه‎. 真宰, meaning "True Ruler" or "True Lord," is originally a term in Daoist philosophy synonymous with the Dao, i.e. the cosmic principle of reality that generates all observable phenomena. The third century BC text Zhuangzi popularized the term in Chinese philosophy with the following excerpt:

It seems that there is a True Lord, but one cannot see its traces. It [the True Lord] must certainly set things in motion, and yet one cannot see its form. It has reality, but it has no form.

² The word 綱維 gangwei, used to translate مَالِكِ, literally refers to the main cords in a net that keep the net together and allow the handler to move it around. By extension, it means "guiding principle" in Chinese philosophy. In Confucianism, 綱維 specifically refers to the 三綱 四維 san gang si wei, the Three Bonds and Four Principles that keep society together. The san gang are the bonds between monarch and minister, between father and son, and between husband and wife. The si wei are the principle of etiquette and ritual, the principle of justice and righteousness, the principle of honesty and incorruptibility, and the principle of shame at wrongdoing.

³ This is a reference to a saying of Confucius, in which he says "excessiveness is like inadequacy."

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