Dammam, Feb 9(Arab News): A Dubai-based publisher has released an Arabic edition of “Inside the Kingdom,” British historian Robert Lacey’s meticulously researched book on modern Saudi Arabia.
The book was released last year to rave reviews and academic discussions. Around the globe, academics and reviewers have called it a must read. Lacey spent more than three years in the Kingdom learning about the events that have shaped Saudi Arabia’s modern history. The book is considered one of the most accurate, balanced works on Saudi Arabia.
Lacey has authored a number of international bestsellers, including “Majesty” and his earlier book on Saudi Arabia, “The Kingdom.”
The Arabic translation was released by Dubai-based Al-Mesbar Studies & Research Center. The center’s chairman is popular Saudi journalist Turki Al-Dakhil, and it was he who assigned the crucial and delicate task of translation to Khaled Al-Awadh.
Al-Awadh is a talented Saudi short story writer and a journalist who is equally at ease in Arabic and English. He is based in Qassim and has written for local newspapers and contributes regularly to Arab News. He had the distinct advantage of having known all the personalities and subjects that Lacey discussed and wrote about in his book.
“I enjoyed translating this book. Unlike all the previous ones I translated, Robert Lacey’s style is different,” Al-Awadh told Arab News. “It is a history book with a literary flavor. Historical events are presented in a pleasant narrative based on real stories.” He said Lacey takes the reader through the dramatic experiences of the Saudis from the start of the book until the last chapter. “I liked the book because I am familiar with the heroes and events of our history in Saudi Arabia.”
Translating the book was not without challenges. “The work went very smoothly with Arabic letters and words taking shape in the right places of the context and embracing the new white pages as if they are written originally in Arabic,” said Al-Awadh.
“I tried my best to make the reader feel that they are not reading a translation. For example, when Lacey narrated the way he met with King Khaled, a Nabati or traditional poet recited a poem celebrating the presence of the king … I translated this piece in traditional Nabati poetry. No Lebanese or Egyptian translator could have captured that dialect. I am fully aware of the culture Lacey is writing about.”
Al-Awadh shared interesting nuggets during the translation work. “I sometimes laughed very loudly while translating,” he said. “The book is full of comic parts and ironic jokes. You cannot help but laugh when you read the part where Prince Sultan bin Salman called Sheikh Bin Baz looking for his fatwa regarding his prayer and his fast before boarding Discovery space shuttle. ‘We are going to be traveling at 18,000 miles per hour. I am going to see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. So does that mean I will get Ramadan finished in two days?’ Prince Sultan asked him. ‘Sheikh Bin Baz himself laughed out loud. You can read the book if you want to know about the revered sheikh’s answer.”
The book also has its sad moments. “I almost cried when I came to translate the bit about Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah performing his unusually long sunset prayers alone once on the beach of Jeddah. He was angry and depressed after a courtesy visit to King Abdullah Economic City to see only palm trees and sand. The king was expecting to see lecture halls and labs of the university.”
Al-Awadh said the book represented a milestone for him. “I felt no sense of boredom while translating it as Lacey has used a beautiful style … one that you cannot find in any history books. I have translated Noam Chomsky and Ernest Hemingway, but this book is different. I consider it to be a turning point in my translation career,” he said.
Al-Awadh has worked and written columns and reports for a number of newspapers including Al-Jazeera, Al-Watan and Al-Riyadh. He has a number of books, both in English and Arabic, to his credit. They include “The Telltale Heart: A Collection of Short Stories” (1993), “Lingering Outside of Time” (Athena Press, London) and “Reading on the Face of the Sun” (Al-Salman Publishing, Buraidah).