Illustration: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News
The World Arabic Language Day, which is observed annually on December 18, always reminds me of a painful truth that our language no longer has a significant influence on other world civilisations due to the weakness of the Arab nations.
As Arabs, we should have the courage to admit the truth, identify our weakness and determine the reasons behind it. This is because admitting mistakes is half the battle towards the rebirth of the Arab nation.
This leads us to many questions. Do we really love our Arabic language and glorify it? Do we try to regain its previous prestigious stature and then maintain it sustainably? The answer will definitely be yes. We truly love our language so much because it is one of our sanctities.
If we really love it, then why is online Arabic content only 5 per cent, compared to other living languages? This is indeed regrettable, but this is a fact that we dislike. Why is the Arabic content weak and disorderly compared to other content on the internet? This is simply because we do not like our language and if we truly like, we do not know how to serve and help it regain its status of what was once the language of science and literature.
No doubt that Arabic language is imperative and essential for human civilisation. This may seem strange to some, but it is the truth. Our language is highly important. If one says it is not important, then he or she should ask himself or herself the question that what are non-Arab news channels doing in our region, such as Alalam, EuroNews, Alhurra, Radio Sawa, BBC, Russia Today, France 24, China’s CCTV and so on? What is the interest of these media outlets in the Arab region?
As for the question of translation from other languages into Arabic, most translation projects do not exist or have turned into individual enterprises that are not adopted or supported by government organisations across the Arab world. Perhaps five Exabytes (EB) of information were created since the dawn of civilisation and until 2003, but that much information is now created every two days due to rapidly-growing technology.
Online automated translation
It is impossible to enrich the Arabic content through human translators. Therefore, we need to focus on the internet to enrich the Arabic content to catch up with advanced nations. This can be done via online automated translation.
According to Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, 90 per cent of support for Arabic language comes from non-Arabic organisations and bodies, but all are foreign! The explanation for that is because our Arabic language is important, appreciated and crucial for human civilisation. With a quick look at online sites dedicated to the content industry, most books that talk about linguistic content are in foreign languages, while there is none in Arabic.
Although crying over the ruins is not acceptable to people and nations who are the makers of glory, we are obliged as Arabs to recall our brilliant past. We have to remind ourselves of the House of Wisdom (Bait Al Hikma), which was founded in 809 in Baghdad. This golden era was marked by the phenomenal movement of translation during which many international books were translated into Arabic, starting from the reign of Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far Al Mansour, who built the city of Baghdad and founded the House of Wisdom.
This approach was followed and entrenched by Caliph Harun Al Rashid, who built the Wisdom University, and later by Caliph Al Ma’amoun, who reportedly paid translators in gold as per the weight of the books they translated.
The House of Wisdom was a great monument that symbolises the rise of a nation.
So, how can we support our Arabic language and regain its past glory? We should develop strategic plans to support Arabic content. It is also vital for us as Arabs to develop legislation and policies dedicated to supporting and enriching digital Arabic content.
We should always remember that worse than the bitterness of defeat is repeating it.
Mohammad Hassan Al Harbi is a renowned columnist and author whose writings cover various fields ranging from media studies to education.
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