The Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan awarded a valuable gift to young artist Hamid Aminyar from Hairatan, who used calligraphy to copy the Quran with a Pashto translation and artistic miniatures, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, the handwritten Quran occupied 304 pages, each of which was decorated with artistic miniatures.

"At the ceremony, government officials expressed their gratitude to the artist for his valuable scientific, religious, and artistic contribution to the development of national art and assured him of comprehensive material and moral support for this young talent and others like him," the statement said.

The work of writing and translating the Quran took Aminyar exactly two years. The translation of the Muslim holy book into Pashto was coordinated with theologians specializing in tafsir—the interpretation of the Quran.