‘Kalila and Dimna’, one of the most famous books in the history of Arabic literature.
Doha: Qatar Reads — the Qatar Foundation initiative that aims to increase national awareness of the value of reading to all members of society— has launched One Book, One Doha, a campaign that brings people together to celebrate culture and learn about the rich history of Arabic literature through a shared reading experience.
The campaign which started on March 6 will run until March 26 in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture (MOC) and Qatar National Library (QNL). It will be in three phases – awareness, reading, and participation, and end with a four-day festival where participating readers will have the opportunity to meet and interact.
The selected book for the launch of One Book, One Doha is ‘Kalila and Dimna’, one of the most famous books in the history of Arabic literature. It collects 15 tales, all featuring animals as the main protagonists, with its origins dating back to Sanskrit text before it was translated into Arabic during the Abbasid era by the Muslim scholar Abdullah Ibn Al Muqaffa.
“This campaign aims to revolutionize the way we think about Arabic literature,” said Qatar Reads Project Manager Fatema Al Malki.
“By rediscovering cultural icons, we’re creating a shared experience, engaging in invigorating discussions, and kickstarting creativity. Qatar Reads aims to bring together the community through different reading initiatives, and we hope this nationwide movement is just the beginning,” she added
MOC Director of the Libraries Department, Jassim Al Buainain said: “The Ministry of Culture is pleased to cooperate with Qatar Reads and Qatar Foundation, and together we make reading more interesting through all our joint activities. The One Book, One Doha campaign will be the largest reading campaign in Qatar, where everyone reads together and shares the passion for reading to continue building an educated and more cohesive society, which brings us closer to achieving Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Al Buainain explained there will be many surprises awaiting children and their families through this cultural forum. He emphasised the great diversity of the books that will be available in the campaign’s reading space, which will target all sections of society in order to benefit both children and their family members who accompany them when visiting this space. “The Ministry of Culture, represented by the Department of Libraries, seeks, through its cooperation with Qatar Reads initiative, to promote the love of reading at the country level in a comprehensive, attractive and appropriate manner. It leads to new interests, topics and ideas, and guides them to new ways of seeing the world from different perspectives,” he said.QNL Director of Research and Learning Services, Abeer Saad Al Kuwari said: “QNL is keen to acquire and provide copies of distinguished and well-known literature books of all kinds.”
“Undoubtedly, the book ‘Kalila and Dimna’ is of great importance, and the library has been keen on the availability of multiple copies of this book for various groups of society – children, adolescents, and adults alike.
This is in addition to the presence of two heritage copies of the book in the library’s heritage collection. We also seek to provide a larger number of copies in Arabic and English so that everyone can read and enjoy this book. QNL will also provide an electronic copy of the book that can be read anywhere, at any time,” she said.
“The presence of a rare copy of a book like ‘Kalila and Dimna’ in Qatar National Library indicates the library’s interest in preserving heritage and its care, its keenness to preserve and protect it, and that the heritage library in QNL is one of the leading libraries in the field of heritage, manuscripts, and Arabic texts,” Al Kuwari added.
