Alfu Lela U Lela 5

Hiki ni kitabu cha Tano katika mfululizo wa hadithi maarufu duniani kote za Alfu Lela U Lela (au Siku Elfu Moja na Moja) zenye asili ya Arabuni na Uajemi. Masimulizi haya ya Alfu Lela U Lela, yametafsiriwa kutoka matoleo ya Kiingereza na Kijerumani. Lugha hizi za Ulaya ndimo zilimotafsiriwa hadithi hizi kwa mara ya kwanza kutoka lugha za Kiajemi, Kiarabu na Kihindi.

Tafsiri ya Kiingereza ilifanywa na Sir. Richard Burton ambaye anafahamika huku kwetu kama mmoja wa wasafiri wa kwanza kutoka Ulaya kutembelea na ati “kuvumbua” sehemu zile walizofika.

Tafsiri ya kwanza ya Kiswahili ilifanywa mwaka wa 1928 na katika kufanya hivyo, sehemu nyingi zilikatwa au ziliachwa makusudi bila kutafsiriwa kwa sababu wamisionari hawakutaka wasomi wa Kiswahili wasome baadhi ya sehemu kwa sababu zao wenyewe.

Matoleo haya, kwa kifupi, ndiyo yenye hadithi kamilifu kwa uhakika; yaani mtiririko wa visa na maana halisi ya hadithi kama zilivyotungwa na kutafsiriwa na magwiji wa lugha hizo mbili, zaidi ya miaka mia moja iliyopita. Kiswahili kina bahati ya kumpata mfasiri, Hassan Adam, Mtanzania mwenye ujuzi wa lugha zote tatu zilizohusika katika kutayarisha tafsiri hizi. Bwana Hassan Adam ni mkufunzi wa miaka mingi katika Taasisi ya Lugha za Kiafrika katika Chuo Kikuu cha Cologne, Ujerumani.

This is the first unabridged translation of the Arabian Nights. This translation was made from English and German texts, two western languages in which Arabian nights were first translated by the orientalist Sir Richard Burton and published in the west. The first Swahili translation was made in 1928, but parts of the original works deemed offensive by missionaries were expurgated from the texts.

This volume is Book 5 of eight books; the full edition is the first and complete translation by a distinguished Tanzanian Swahili language scholar and writer, Hassan Adam, who has command of three languages, German, English and Arabic. Until recently Hassan Adam was for many years lecturer at the Institute of African Languages at the University of Cologne.

International availability:
This book is internationally distributed by African Books Collective