By Samar Al-Harthi
SHARJAH — Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated on Wednesday the 44th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025), launching a 12-day cultural gathering under the theme “Between You and a Book” at Expo Centre Sharjah.
The opening ceremony was attended by Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah; Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA); and senior officials, authors, intellectuals, and international guests.
Welcoming the Guest of Honour delegation from Greece, the Ruler of Sharjah expressed gratitude to Allah and reaffirmed his lifelong commitment to advancing culture, knowledge, and literature across the Arab and Islamic worlds.
He highlighted Sharjah’s century-long cultural journey, beginning with the founding of the emirate’s first library in 1925. “Today, after 100 years, the emirate is celebrating its centennial,” he said.
Sheikh Dr. Sultan announced the completion of the first phase of a landmark scholarly work — The Comprehensive Arabic Encyclopaedia of Sciences, Literature, Arts and Eminent Figures. The monumental project aims to document the full spectrum of Arabic-language sciences, Islamic studies, literary traditions, and biographical histories of key scholars and thinkers across Arab and Islamic civilizations.
Phase one, completed under the supervision of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, consists of 44 volumes covering linguistic and Islamic sciences, including grammar, rhetoric, prosody, phonetics, lexicography, creed, Quranic studies, jurisprudence, the principles of Islamic law, Hadith authentication, Islamic economics, and more.
The encyclopaedia will become the largest cultural and scientific reference work of its kind in the Arab world. Sheikh Dr. Sultan said the project aims to “connect the present of our nation with its past” and provide researchers and academics with a comprehensive, reliable scholarly resource.
Honouring cultural excellence
The Ruler of Sharjah named acclaimed Egyptian writer, poet, and playwright Mohamed Salmawy as the ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ for his significant literary contributions.
He also awarded the 8th Sharjah Translation Award (Turjuman) to Dr. Ondřej Beránek for the Czech edition of Ibn Fadlan’s Journey from Baghdad to the Volga Bulgars: 921–922, published by Academia. The AED 1.4 million prize is the world’s largest award for translating an original Arabic work into another language.
He also signed copies of his new multi-volume historical work, The Compendium of the Histories of the Arabian Peninsula and Persia 1622 CE – 1810 CE. Published in 33 volumes in both Arabic and English, the compendium assembles 1,473 archival documents sourced from English, Dutch, French, Ottoman, and Portuguese archives.
The work, arranged chronologically, reflects nearly four decades of scholarly effort in collecting, translating, annotating, and categorizing primary historical records related to the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. Each volume includes indexed references and detailed notes to support academic use.
SIBF 2025 continues through November 16, bringing together global authors, publishers, and cultural institutions for one of the world’s largest and most influential book fairs. — SG
