TEHRAN – Iranian writer Reza Amirkhani’s Persian novel “His Ego” (“Njen Ja”) has been published in the Bosnian language in Sarajevo.

The book has been released by Buybook, a major publishing house in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in collaboration with the Iranian Culture Center in the country, Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) announced on Saturday.

Muamer Kodric, the translator of Iranian writer Mostafa Mastur’s novella “Pig’s Bone and Leper’s Hands” (“Svinjska kost u leproznoj ruci”), has rendered the book into Bosnian from its Persian edition published in 1999.

The book has been published in Bosnian based on Translation of Persia (TOP), a plan initiated by the ICRO in 2015 to support the translation and publication of Persian books into other languages.      

The novel tells the story of Ali Fattah, a man from a well-established family in Tehran who falls in love with Mahtab, the daughter of their family maid. Due to Ali’s belief in pure love, Mahtab declines to marry him until she becomes sure about her real love for Ali. Mahtab enjoys guidelines from a dervish named Mostafa, who is a key character in her life. In the end, however, Ali and Mahtab die unattached in order to marry each other in the future life.          

“His Ego” is a subtle and profound philosophical reflection on the fragility of existence, on the inevitability of death and immortality, on the essence of love, and on man’s relationship with God.

This novel is one of Amirkhani’s hugely popular novels, which has been republished 38 times. It has been translated into various languages including Arabic, Russian and Turkish.

Its Indonesian translation “Akunya Dia” by Bastian Zulyeno, an Indonesian expert on the Persian language who has a Ph.D. from the University of Tehran, was published in 2020.

Amirkhani is a bestselling novelist in his homeland. His book “Salvation”, about the consequences of urban development for a young couple that lives in Tehran, was selected as best novel in 2018 at the 11th Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards, Iran’s most lucrative literary prize.

“A Half of One-Sixth of Pyongyang”, Amirkhani’s travelogue of North Korea, appeared in Tehran bookstores in March 2020 and was warmly received by Iranian readers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: Copies of the Bosnian translation of Reza Amirkhani’s novel “His Ego” (“Njen Ja”).

MMS/YAW