Islamic Terminology in Russian Translations (15th – 16th centuries)
National Research University “Higher School of Economics”
Financing: Higher School of Economics program “Cross-cultural interactions: Muslims in Russia”.
For citation: Zaytsev, Ilya V. Islamic Terminology in Russian Translations (15th – 16th centuries) // Drevneishie gosudarstva Vostochnoi Evropy (The Earliest States of Eastern Europe). 2021: Eastern Europe and the World of Islam. In honor of Tatjana M. Kalinina. Editors of the volume B.E. Rashkovskiy, E.V. Litovskikh, E.A. Melnikova. Moscow: Dmitry Pozharsky University, 2021. S. 583–601.
DOI: 10.32608/1560-1382-2021-42-583-601
Abstract: The article attempts to examine the Islamic vocabulary in Russian translations of diplomatic correspondence of the Moscow Grand Duchy with the neighbouring parts of the Islamic world (the Crimean khanate, the Noghay Horde and the Ottoman Empire). A large number of Arabic words and phrases related to Islam were used in the Turkic originals and their Russian translations: these are ayats (and sometimes complete surahs) of the Holy Quran, prayers (salavat) and words that convey the basic concepts of the Islamic faith. The author disputes the current perception of a low level of knowledge about Islam in the Moscow s tate and concludes that in fact, some ayats of the Quran translated directly from Arabic into Russian were known in Moscow in the 16th century. These translations were fairly accurate and conveyed the meaning of the Islamic revelation very closely. Their appearance in Russian was the merit of Tatar translators. The rites of Islam were also known very well: circumcision, Hajj, prayers, feas ts and fas ts, mosque, seyids, hafizes and mullahs — all these words designating obligatory components of the life and faith of Muslims did not require translation into Russian, they were unders tandable. Some of these terms and concepts were translated with well-es tablished Russian words that were clear to the readers. The Islamic vocabulary used in Russian translations clearly witnesses this.
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