Sharjah Ruler Launches ‘Arabic Language Historical Dictionary’

Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, launches the first eight volumes of "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary - WAM
Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, launches the first eight volumes of "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary - WAM
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Sharjah Ruler Launches ‘Arabic Language Historical Dictionary’

Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, launches the first eight volumes of "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary - WAM
Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, launches the first eight volumes of "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary - WAM

Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi has launched the first eight volumes of "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary", the biggest Arabic linguistic knowledge and information project that documents the history of Arabic language lexicons and their usage transformations over the last 17 centuries (Pre-Islamic to current times).

This came in a ceremony hosted by the Ruler of Sharjah on Thursday in the city of Khorfakkan and attended by a number of heads of Arabic Language Academies, Arabic Language scholars and researchers from the Arab World, state news agency WAM reported.

On the occasion, Sheikh Sultan delivered a speech thanking all those who contributed and participated in editing the "Arabic Language Historical Dictionary", especially the Language and Science Academy Union, headed by Dr. Hassan El Shafei, and all the scholars working with him.

"This project has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I became more eager and keen on supporting and executing this project when I learnt that previous similar attempts were not so successful," he said.

He also congratulated the Arab Nation for this dictionary that documents the history of Arabic lexicons from pre-Islamic, Umayyad, and then Abbasid eras, all the way to our modern times.

"Today we witness the launch of the first eight volumes of the dictionary, executed and printed in a beautiful manner to be put in the hands of Arabic language and culture for their own knowledge and leisure.

"Being a historian myself, I have always thought: Why Arabs do not have a historical dictionary documenting their language? Are Arabic linguists and scholars incapable of accomplishing such a project? "The answer is no, the lovers and scholars of the Arabic language are not incapable of producing such a dictionary.

"I then realized that the project requires gathering the forces, inspiring the morals, unifying the lines, organizing the efforts, and providing the finances that are suitable of a project of this magnitude," he added.

"Praise to Allah Almighty, and with the help of the scholars of the Arabic Language Academies, we were able to overcome the challenges that faced of the completion of this project before."

"I reiterate my congratulations to the Arab and Islamic nation for the launching of the first eight volumes of the dictionary, covering only the first two letters of the Arabic alphabet," the Ruler of Sharjah said in his speech while promising that the coming few years will witness the issuing of dozens of new volumes of this dictionary.

"This dictionary would be the biggest and richest reference for specialists in various domains, students, academics, poets, linguists, and all of those who adore this great language."

He added that this dictionary will not only provide history, origins, meanings, and explanations of words, but will also document the history of the nation, preserve its civilization, and celebrate the achievements of Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean, in addition to recording Arabic poetry, literature, tales and news carried by Muslims spreading Islam far in Asia and deep in Africa.

For his part, Dr. Hassan El Shafei, Chairman of the Language and Science Academy Union, gave a televised speech lauding the efforts of the Ruler of Sharjah and celebrating the launch of this monumental and long-awaited project that would greatly serve the Arabic language.

Later, Dr. Mohamed Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary-General of Sharjah's Arabic Language Academy, presented a historical brief of the dictionary and the preparation stages of the first eight volumes, providing statistics and methodologies adopted by the project team during these stages.

Dr. Mamoun Wajih, the Scholarly Project Manager, in turn, briefed the attendees of the details of the project, thanking His highness for his generous support and efforts in granting this project the success it has achieved.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Ruler of Sharjah handwrote a gratitude note on the first page of the first volume that read, "We thank all of those who contributed in making this dictionary, the administrators, the editors, and the thinkers, hoping that Almighty Allah guides them to the completion of this great project and count it as part of their good deeds."



Hungary's Oldest Library is Fighting to Save Books from Beetle Infestation

Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
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Hungary's Oldest Library is Fighting to Save Books from Beetle Infestation

Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history.

The 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey is a sprawling Benedictine monastery that is one of Hungary's oldest centers of learning and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Restoration workers are removing about 100,000 handbound books from their shelves and carefully placing them in crates, the start of a disinfection process that aims to kill the tiny beetles burrowed into them, The Associated Press reported.

The drugstore beetle, also known as the bread beetle, is often found among dried foodstuffs like grains, flour and spices. But they also are attracted to the gelatin and starch-based adhesives found in books.

They have been found in a section of the library housing around a quarter of the abbey's 400,000 volumes.

“This is an advanced insect infestation which has been detected in several parts of the library, so the entire collection is classified as infected and must be treated all at the same time,” said Zsófia Edit Hajdu, the chief restorer on the project. “We've never encountered such a degree of infection before.”

The beetle invasion was first detected during a routine library cleaning.

Employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves and then saw that holes had been burrowed into some of the book spines. Upon opening the volumes, burrow holes could be seen in the paper where the beetles chewed through.

The abbey at Pannonhalma was founded in 996, four years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sitting upon a tall hill in northwestern Hungary, the abbey houses the country's oldest collection of books, as well as many of its earliest and most important written records.

For over 1,000 years, the abbey has been among the most prominent religious and cultural sites in Hungary and all of Central Europe, surviving centuries of wars and foreign incursions such as the Ottoman invasion and occupation of Hungary in the 16th century.

Ilona Ásványi, director of the Pannonhalma Archabbey library, said she is “humbled” by the historical and cultural treasures the collection holds whenever she enters.

“It is dizzying to think that there was a library here a thousand years ago, and that we are the keepers of the first book catalogue in Hungary,” she said.

Among the library’s most outstanding works are 19 codices, including a complete Bible from the 13th century. It also houses several hundred manuscripts predating the invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century and tens of thousands of books from the 16th century.

While the oldest and rarest prints and books are stored separately and have not been infected, Ásványi said any damage to the collection represents a blow to cultural, historical and religious heritage.

“When I see a book chewed up by a beetle or infected in any other way, I feel that no matter how many copies are published and how replaceable the book is, a piece of culture has been lost,” she said.

To kill the beetles, the crates of books are being placed into tall, hermetically sealed plastic sacks from which all oxygen is removed. After six weeks in the pure nitrogen environment, the abbey hopes all the beetles will be destroyed.

Before being reshelved, each book will be individually inspected and vacuumed. Any book damaged by the pests will be set aside for later restoration work.

The abbey, which hopes to reopen the library at the beginning of next year, believes the effects of climate change played a role in spurring the beetle infestation as average temperatures rise rapidly in Hungary.

Hajdu, the chief restorer, said higher temperatures have allowed the beetles to undergo several more development cycles annually than they could in cooler weather.

“Higher temperatures are favorable for the life of insects,” she said. “So far we've mostly dealt with mold damage in both depositories and in open collections. But now I think more and more insect infestations will appear due to global warming.”

The library’s director said life in a Benedictine abbey is governed by a set of rules in use for nearly 15 centuries, a code that obliges them to do everything possible to save its vast collection.

“It says in the Rule of Saint Benedict that all the property of the monastery should be considered as of the same value as the sacred vessel of the altar,” Ásványi said. “I feel the responsibility of what this preservation and conservation really means.”