First Arabic translation of Taras Shevchenko’s Kobzar published in Beirut

The first-ever Arabic-language translation of the landmark “Kobzar” poetry book by Ukrainian bard Taras Shevchenko has been published in Beirut with the support of the Ukrainian Community in Lebanon.

The collection is historically significant for embodying Ukrainian culture and national identity. 

The news was announced by Nataliya Poshyvaylo-Towler, UWC Vice President for Southern and Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Türkiye, and Lebanon.

The book was released by the Lebanese publishing house “Dar al-Mussawir Al-Arabi” and translated by writer, journalist, and Ukrainian studies scholar Imadeddine Raef. The project was supported by the Ukrainian Book Institute.

“I believe this book represents the first systematic and scholarly attempt to translate Taras Shevchenko’s collection of poetry into Arabic,” Raef told Chytomo. “I can’t claim that the translation, commentary, and notes are flawless — but I can say with confidence that this is the first serious effort in the Arab world to present the works of this great poet, with ‘Kobzar 1840’ serving as the cornerstone of its Arabization.”

According to Ihor Ostash, who authored the book’s foreword, the publication is part of a broader cultural diplomacy project launched by the Embassy of Ukraine in Lebanon and the Ukrainian Community in Lebanon.

The translation took nearly five years to complete and continues an ambitious publishing initiative that has already introduced Arabic-language editions of works by Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Ahatanhel Krymskyi, Vasyl Stus, and other Ukrainian literary classics.

Thanks to this effort, Shevchenko’s ‘Kobzar’ will now be accessible to more than 500 million Arabic-speaking readers worldwide, Ostash said.