Another Arabic translation question.

November 29, 2012 1:23 PM

Another Arabic translation question.

I had a calligrapher write this for me a couple of months ago and already I've forgotten what it means. It's supposed to be a wise saying about science, knowledge or learning.

Anyway, can someone give me a transliteration and translation?

Calligraphy is here.

posted by ditto75 to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

Not a fluent Arabic speaker by any means, but I believe it says something along the lines of "Seek knowledge from the cradle" (someone correct me if I'm way off!).
posted by Papagayo at 1:53 PM on November 29, 2012

Papayago, you are correct but skipped the two words at the end in lighter font. The phrase is "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the end." In Arabic it rhyme: "min al-MAHD ila al-HADD."

The bottom right says "noble hadith." Presumably this is a quotation from hadith.
posted by dzkalman at 2:13 PM on November 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Just to clarify - dzkalman's transliteration (min al-MAHD ila al-HADD) is for "from the cradle to the end," not the whole sentence.
posted by HopperFan at 3:05 PM on November 29, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far! So can anyone give me a complete transliteration?

And does anyone know if this is from the hadiths?
posted by ditto75 at 9:03 PM on November 29, 2012

Best answer: "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave"

Transliteration: Utluboo al-'ilm min al-mahd ila al-hadd

Although similar to other hadiths and quotes from the Quran urging the pursuit and study of knowledge, it seems to be a popular phrase/proverb rather than an authentic hadith. [source]
posted by Fin Azvandi at 8:30 AM on November 30, 2012