Four women — two Saudis, an Egyptian and an Italian — won recently the King Abdullah International Award for Translation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Reem Al-Towairqi, assistant professor in the physics department at King Saud University, won for her translation of the book “How Things Work" from English into Arabic.

Salwa Naqli won for her translation of Peter Stockwell’s book “Cognitive Poetics: An Introduction” from English into Arabic. Rasha Zaki, an English teacher from Egypt, won for her translation of Thomas Sowell’s book “Applied Economics” from English into Arabic.

Cecilia Martini won for her translation of the book “Al-Farabi: Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle” from Arabic into Italian.

The winners thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for helping to build bridges between Arabs and other cultures.

Al-Towairqi said the award was a strong incentive for translators. It has helped to spread scientific work in the world. She said the awards are reviving a tradition of translations going back more than 1,000 years.

She thanked the king for supporting science and scientists.

Naqli said the award has motivated her to work hard to show the worth of Saudi women in helping to grow this country.

Zaki said the award opened new horizons of knowledge between Arab and other cultures. Martini said the award would help resolve conflicts between cultures.