Translating The Urantia Book into Farsi: The Inspiring Story of how this Project Began

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Editor’s Note: The author of this article wishes to remain anonymous. Someday this world will know religious freedom, and we pray for the day that all of its inhabitants will be able to express themselves freely.  

I am the translator of The Urantia Book into the Farsi (Persian) language. In 1990 I discovered The Urantia Book in the office of a Persian doctor. At that time I regarded myself as a progressive Moslem thinker, and I practiced Islam, the religion of my parents. I had read the Koran and the Bible. Although I found some inspiration in these two books, they did not answer my fundamental questions about life, the universe, God, the afterlife, and the earth’s history. The Bible and the Koran did not quench my intellectual and spiritual thirst, and their answers to my questions did not appeal to my scientific mind and my soul. It seemed to me that the creator of the universe must be far more encompassing, universal, and loving than the portrayal of God in the Koran and the Bible. Furthermore, I thought that we could not have been placed on earth just to live a short life and then end up either in heaven or hell, depending on whether or not we conformed to a certain belief system.

While I was struggling for answers, I started reading The Urantia Book with tremendous curiosity. Soon it became obvious to me that I had come across an unearthly treasure. Its intellectual appeal and the wisdom of its authors far surpassed anything that I had ever read. My life-long, unanswered questions now found satisfactory answers that appealed to my inner being. What a magnificent God we have! What a glorious universe we live in! I now look forward to a universe career of growth and discovery. I asked myself: How can I share my happiness and forward thinking with other hungry souls, especially those who speak the Farsi language?

I started by translating a few passages from the book and sharing them with friends. Then I decided to translate the book. I have translated nearly half of it. I am certain that, when the translation is completed, and the book is published in Farsi, it will transform the thinking and philosophy of Iranians and other Farsi-speaking people around the world.

What a delight and honor it is to be a translator of The Urantia Book and to be here on Urantia  when, as is stated in the book: “All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael, unencumbered by the accumulated doctrines and dogmas of nineteen centuries of contact with the religions of evolutionary origin. The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus.” (1041:5) 94:12.7