A Friend Within The Enemy

A FRIEND WITHIN THE ENEMY D r. Syed Abdul Latif (1891–1971) was born in Kurnool, Deccan. He gained fame for his English translation of the Quran and his other scholarly works. As a boy, without telling his father, he enrolled in a local high school. His father, who disliked the English language and their education, became angry when he found out and asked harshly, “What will you do by studying English?” The thin, frail boy replied, “I will translate the Quran into English.” In 1915, he earned his B.A. with distinction, and in 1920, he was appointed as a lecturer in English at Osmania University in Hyderabad. Two years later, in 1922, a new opportunity emerged when the university chose four teachers for advanced studies in Europe, granting each an interest-free loan of thirty-thousand rupees. Among them was Syed Abdul Latif. In London, he sought admission to a B.A. (Honours) program. However, the head of the English Department at King’s College and other professors were so impressed by his ability that they exempted him from both the B.A. and M.A., allowing him to go directly to a Ph.D. His thesis, ‘The Influence of English Literature on Urdu Literature,’ was given three years for completion, but he finished it in two. The college approved it, and he was awarded the doctorate. Returning to Hyderabad a year early, he was