Newsletters
The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding announced the winners of its 11th edition for 2025 during a ceremony Tuesday evening in Doha, highlighting a strong presence by translators and institutions from Türkiye across multiple categories.
Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani honored the winners on behalf of the Father Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding was established in Doha, Qatar, in 2015 to help advance intercultural exchange and support the translation movement to and from the Arabic language worldwide.
Turkish participation featured prominently across several categories of the award, reflecting the growing role of translators, scholars and publishing institutions from Türkiye in cross-cultural and linguistic exchange.
In the category of translation from Turkish into Arabic, Mohamed Abdel Aaty Mohamed secured second place for his translation of The Revolt of Muhammad Ali Pasha: The Egyptian Question, 1831–1841 by Sinasi Altundag.
Third place in the same category was awarded to Abdelrazak Mohammed Hassan Barakat for his translation of A History of Contemporary Turkish Thought by Hilmi Ziya Ulken.
Within the Achievement Category, Turkish-language contributions were particularly notable. In the Arabic-to-Turkish translation category, Dawoud Iltash won first place for his translation of Mirror of the Principles in the Commentary on Marqat al-Wusul by Molla Khusraw.
A joint first prize was also awarded to Mohammed Yousha Ozmen for his translation of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama‘ah: An Essay on Origins and Emergence by Bashir Moussa Nafi.
Elif Baga received second place for her translation of Al-Mumti‘ fi Sharh Al-Muqni‘ by Shihab al-Din Ibn al-Ha’im al-Maqdisi, while the joint second prize went to Cahit Senel for translating Jawami‘ al-Sama‘ al-Tabi‘i by Ibn Rushd.
Third place was awarded to Mustafa Ismail Donmez for his translation of Time of the White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah.
In the Turkish-language Achievement Award, the prize was granted to Dar Baqa, Wahid al-Din Inja and Dar Ankara Okulu, recognizing their contributions to translation and cultural exchange.
The ceremony opened with an introductory film highlighting key milestones of the current edition, including events and activities held throughout the year, among them field visits to Germany and the Balkan countries of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia.
According to the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, these activities aim to expand cultural exchange, strengthen dialogue between Arabic and other world languages, deepen cooperation with academic and cultural institutions, and explore future collaboration in translation, Arabic language education and the preservation of shared human and Islamic heritage.
In his address, Hassan al-Naama, secretary-general of the award, described the prize as a bridge connecting people and a beacon illuminating the paths of literature, knowledge and the arts.
He also extended his thanks to the writers and scholars whose contributions helped realize this major cultural project.
Speaking on behalf of the translators, Larissa Bender emphasized that translation is a cultural and human act that builds understanding between people, even though it is often carried out away from the spotlight.
She highlighted the declining moral and financial recognition faced by translators, particularly in the field of Arabic translation in Germany, citing reduced interest from publishing houses and media outlets.
She also warned of the existential challenges posed by machine translation and artificial intelligence, stressing the importance of preserving the value of human translation.
3 min read
