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Historical introduction

William Muss Arnolt discusses translations of the Book of Common Prayer into Arabic in Chapter XIX of The Book of Common Prayer among the Nations of the World (1914). This is a second edition of Edward Pococke's 1674 translation:

Among the translations into the Near-East languages and dialects those into Arabic were the earliest and the most important.

Edward Pococke was born at Oxford in 1604. He received priest’s orders in 1629 from Bishop Richard Corbet, in accordance with the terms of his fellowship in Corpus Christi College. He was given to Oriental studies when still at college. In 1630 he was appointed chaplain to the English “Turkey Merchants” at Aleppo, where he resided for over five years. During this time he made himself master of Arabic, which he not only read, but spoke fluently, studied Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac and Ethiopic, and associated on friendly terms with learned Moslems and Jews. In 1636 he was appointed the first incumbent of the Laudian professorship of Arabic, founded by Archbishop Laud at Oxford. A severe illness in 1663 left him permanently lame, but did not long arrest his energy. He translated in 1671 the Catechism and the principal parts of the Liturgy into Arabic, which in 1672 appeared, entitled: Liturgiæ Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ partes præcipuæ: viz. Preces Matutinæ & Vespertinæ; Ordo administrandi cœnam Domini; Ordo Baptismi Publici; una cum ejusdem Ecclesiæ Doctrina, triginta novem Articulis comprehensa, nec non Homiliarum Argumentis: in linguam Arabicam traductæ. Operâ E. Pocock. Oxoniæ: Typis and impensis Academiæ. 3 parts, 93 ff., 8vo. Pococke died September 10, 1691, of “great old age.” A reprint of the first part of his translation was issued in 1826 by the Prayer-book and Homily Society, London; 70 pages, 8vo.

Pococke’s translation was made originally for the Rev. Robert Huntington, his friend and, at that time, successor in the chaplaincy at Aleppo. He sent him first the Church Catechism which he had translated for the use of young Christians in the East. Soon afterwards, at Huntington’s request, Pococke published and sent out to him an Arabic translation which he had made of the Daily Morning and Evening Prayers in the Prayer Book, the Order of the Administration of Baptism, and of the Lord’s Supper. He also translated the doctrine of the Church of England as set forth in the Thirty-nine Articles and the arguments of our Homilies.

This translation is listed as number 8:2 in David Griffiths's Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer 1549-1999 (London: The British Library; New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2002).

It was digitized in 2015 by Richard Mammana from a personal copy.