A Comparative Study of Three Kurdish Translations of Ruba’iyyat-i Khayyam

There are many translations of Ruba’iyyat-i Khayyam in the Kurdish language in which translators have tried to convey the precise meanings and beautiful concepts of Khayyam’s poetry to the target language. Using the descriptive-analytical method, and collecting data through desk research, the present study seeks to compare three Kurdish translations of Ruba’iyyat-i Khayyam, namely the translations conducted by Kamran Ali Badrkhan, Guran, and Hazhar. The study found out that Kamran Ali’s work is a word-for-word and prosed translation and that due to lack of familiarity with figurative meanings of Khayyam’s words and the poetic subtleties, he has failed to convey Khayyam’s particular tone and language to Kurdish. Guran too does not succeed in presenting a picture of Khayyam’s poetry proportionate to Kurdish literature and culture, and his translation has not found a high status among the Kurdish speaking audience. In Hazhar’s translation which is of a free or communicative nature, however, the translator conveys well not only Khayyam’s view of inner and outer worlds, but also the spirit and main message as well as the semantic and formal features of his poetry, including form, metre, tone and the robustness of the words of the well-known wise man, which is what makes the translation more eloquent and acceptable.