Translation plays a very important role in the process of development as it is the means that transports different fields of knowledge and thoughts among different cultures. The historical roots of translation is related to the ancient world as translation was known to the Babylonians, Assyrians, the ancient Egyptians, ancient Persians, ancient Greeks and the Romans.
Translation become a distinctive field of science it has its own roles and theories at the beginning of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, translation is used by human beings since their existence and then it is developed after the invention of writing. Accordingly, different cultures were introduced to each other and trade knowledge among them.
The ancient cultures used translation to transfer the knowledge of the cultures they raided employing this knowledge to develop their own culture. Translation is known to the Arabs before Islam as they communicated with the Greeks, the Chinese, and the Indians. On the other hand, the Europeans transferred many aspects of the Arabic Islamic culture through translation during the crusades. During the Abbasid period, the Arabs translated many scientific and literary works from the Persians, Greeks, the Indians and some other cultures.
Nowadays, translation is considered one of the most important aspects of culture. Sometimes, translation is urgently needed.
Translation plays an important role in finding interlocution and bridging the gap among cultures and paving the way to find global common cultural ground. Translation is the tool of the communication among nations that speak different languages. Translation helped nations communicate with each other. The oldest form of translation is the verbal interpretation which occurred before the invention of writing. It was the tool of communication between tribes and other forms of communities to facilitate trade at the time of peace and to establish treaties and agreements in the time of war. Moreover, translation helped to spread religions and literature and it was the tool of communication among the cultures of the ancient world, the Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, the ancient Egyptians, and the Greeks.
Translation is known to Arabs since their earliest time as they took a trip for trade once in each summer and once in each winter. They were influenced by the neighboring nations like the Persians in the East, the Romans in the North, and the Abyssinians in the South. Some of the Persian words were used by the Arabs and they appeared in their poetry. Since before Islam, the Arabs had relations with these three neighboring nations which prove that the Arabs had practiced translation.