Iranologist describes translation of Persian into Spanish

Spanish Iranologist and translator of the book ‘Asrar al-Tawhid fi Maqamat al-Sheikh Abu Sa’eed’, Joaquín Rodríguez Vargas, said that Persian literature is popular in Spain. Iranologist and translator of Persian literature into Spanish, Joaquín Rodríguez Vargas, a former professor at the School of Modern Languages, University of Barcelona, said that his translations of the books ‘Golestan’ by Sa’di, ‘Souvashoun’ (A Persian Requiem) by Simin Daneshvar and ‘Three Drops of Blood’ by Sadeq Hedayat sold out in a very short time. Describing his reasons for selecting the work ‘Asrar al-Tawhid fi Maqamat al-Sheikh Abu Sa’eed’ (English: The Secrets Of God’s Mystical Oneness, Or, The Spiritual Stations Of Shaikh Abu Saʻid), which is the biography of the mystic and poet of early 5 Century A.H. Abu Sa’eed Abul-Kheir, he said: “Sufism is known in Spain, although they pay more attention to Arabic mysticism. However, great mystics like AƩar and Rumi are well-known in Spain. Abu Sa’eed AbulKheir is a renowned Sufi and poet in Iran and other Persian speaking countries like Afghanistan and even high school students are familiar with his name. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Spain which is perhaps one of the reasons why I have chosen this book for translation.”
In reply to a question about receiving books translated from Persian in Spain, he said that these books have their specific target audience. In fact, certain languages like Persian are in their own special category and consequently have their own specific readers.