The Latvian translation of the Qur'an (Uldis Bērziņš)

This literary rendering of the meanings of the Qur'an into Latvian by the poet and translator Uldis Bērziņš is counted the first complete translation published in the language, which has about 1.5 million speakers in Latvia. ¹

Bērziņš (1944–2021) graduated in translation studies from Leningrad State University, wrote poetry and translated from Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Tatar and other languages, worked on a team for a new Latvian Bible and later taught at Lund University in Sweden; he was not a Muslim, identifying as Lutheran. ¹ His collaborator was Jānis Ešots (1966–2011), a Latvian scholar of Persian philosophy. ¹

Mykhaylo Yakubovych dates the first edition to 2007, by Zvaigzne ABC in Riga, correcting The Muslim 500's 2009, though he also mentions a 2009 first edition elsewhere; a second edition with corrections followed from Neputns in 2011. ¹

Bērziņš said he translated from the Arabic and tried to convey the Qur'an's style and imitate its syntax without dry imitation, putting its literary character before its legal and theological aspects. ¹ Yakubovych finds deep engagement with the Arabic, general references to the commentators, and local cultural words where Latvian has no settled Islamic vocabulary. ¹

It remains available in Latvia and is often cited by Latvian scholars quoting the Qur'an. ¹

• Mykhaylo Yakubovych, "Qur'an translation of the week #196", The Global Qur'an, 2024. ¹