Unrecorded trilingual Hong Kong publication of Ya Sin, the 36th surah of the Qur'an
Ya-Sin. A chapter in the Holy Quran.
8vo (130 x 190 mm). (2), 26, (2) pp. The top half of each page starts with the text in Arabic, followed by a transliteration and the Chinese and the bottom half of the page shows 2 columns of text: translations into English (right column) and Chinese (left column). With a small overview of the system of transliteration on the inside of the front wrapper and a vignette of the Hong Kong Muslim Press on the back wrapper. Original orange publisher's printed wrappers, with the Arabic title in gold and the Chinese and English titles in black, stapled.
$2,433.00
Unrecorded trilingual publication of the 36th surah Ya Sin of the Qur'an, "the heart of the Qur'an". The 83 verses of text are presented in Arabic naskh-style script with a transliteration into Latin script for phonetic reading, together with the English and Chinese (Mandarin) translations. It was compiled by a Hong Kong imam, published "with the compliments of the Mission of Hong Kong Muslims", and printed in AH 1385 AH by the Hong Kong Muslim Press for the local Muslim community. The presence of both a Chinese and an English translation is due to Hong Kong still being a colony and dependent territory of the British Empire at the time of publication. This pamphlet, containing the supposed "heart (or core) of the Qur'an", was most likely intended for distribution among and consumption by the region's small Muslim population.
The relative influence and importance of Imam Ma Tat Ng and his work in Hong Kong is reflected in the fact that one of the locations of the library of the Islamic Union of Hong Kong is named after him.
The wrappers are slightly dust-soiled, some very small wormholes through the volume, the staples have left small dark brown spots in the gutters and with some very slight foxing throughout. Otherwise in good condition. We have not been able to locate any other copy of this work.
