Damascus-SANA
Al-Assad National Library in Damascus embraces rare and ancient cultural treasures, as it used to present something new every year from the cultural and knowledge heritage it holds, amounting to more than 3,500 items, including manuscripts, rare books, visual and audio materials.
The exhibition of rare poetry collections came within this endeavor, as the library presented its visitors with 48 poetry collections and a rare book by Arab poets belonging to different eras.
Among these books are the collections of Abu Al-Fath Al-Bisti, the selections of Arab poets, Al-Shabab Al-Zarif, Ibn Maatouq, Antara Al-Absi, Urwa bin Al-Ward, Zuhair bin Abi Salma, Tarfa bin Al-Abd and Imru Al-Qays, and Al-Mufadhaliyat by Al-Mufaddal bin Muhammad Al-Dhabi.
The exhibition also included collections of Diwans by Al-Mutanabi, Abi Tammam, Al-Buhturi, Abi Al-Nawas, Ahmed Al-Kiwani and others, most of which are lithographs, the oldest of which is the printing of the Diwan of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib dating back to the early nineteenth century.
The Director General of the Syrian Book Organization, Dr. Thaer Zain Al-Din, said in a statement to SANA about the exhibition, “Whoever sees this sample of books in the Al-Assad library that were printed since ancient times, lithographs, finds a treasure in every sense of the word for the beauty of these handwriting-shaped publications, in addition to the contents they contain. A production of giants of Arabic poetry through different stages and provided with footnotes around the original text to illuminate the text from the publisher’s point of view at that period.”
Director General of Al-Assad Library, Iyad Murshid, said that the library used to present all new things that it held from the eyes of the national cultural heritage, including rare books and manuscripts, pointing out that this exhibition is part of about 3,500 rare books that the library possesses in various forms and types of knowledge with the aim of putting our heritage at the service of scholars and researchers. about knowledge.
Deputy Director of Manuscripts Heba Al-Maleh explained that when choosing poetry collections to present in the exhibition, diversification is taken into account between lithograph books and rare books from the pre-Islamic era to the modern, considering that the exhibition achieved the main objective of its establishment in shedding light on poetry, which has always been the “Diwan of the Arabs.”
Shatha Hammoud and Amani Farooj
