The 1:st poem of the Kalevala in Arabic

The El-Kalifala in Arabic was translated by Sahban Ahmad Mroueh and it was published in 1991. Mroueh was born in Lebanon but moved to Finland in 1974 and studied to become a movie director. His other production was almost overshadowed by the translation of the Kalevala. “They cannot really think of more than one thing at a time here. I almost started to hate the whole family of Väinämöinen, when I was called the translator of the Kalevala everywhere, virtually even on my marriage certificate”, he said in an interview in Helsingin Sanomat, shortly before the translation was published.

 

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Helsingin Sanomat 9 March 1990: “Kirjailija Sahban Mroueh luki Nijinskin päiväkirjat, paastosi, uneksi ja kirjoitti” https://www.hs.fi/radiotelevisio/art-2000002966900.html