Doha: Qatar National Library (QNL), in collaboration with Qatar Reads and the Ministry of Culture, has held a variety of cultural events for the book Kalila and Dimna, which was featured in the ‘One Book, One Doha’ campaign.
The initiative aims to bring people together to celebrate culture and learn about the rich history of Arabic literature through a shared reading experience.
The Library held an event titled: “A Night with Kalila and Dimna” on March 21 and 22 for children and young adults to hear stories from the book and take part in engaging discussions and activities.
The Library also hosted Mohammed Al Mokhtar Ahmed, Scientific Supervisor at Al Jazeera.net, for a special event, “The Importance of Kalila and Dimna in the History of Islamic Culture.”
Ahmed shed light on the importance of the book to the history of Islamic culture and literature and how it served as a resource for translations in other languages.
Kalila and Dimna is one of the most famous books in the history of Arabic literature and is considered one of the most popular collections of stories ever written. The 15 full-of-wisdom tales, which all feature dynamic animals as their main heroes, were originally written in Sanskrit, an ancient language of India, before they were translated into Arabic during the Abbasid era by Muslim scholar Abdullah Ibn Al Muqaffa.
Abeer Al Kuwari, Director of Research and Learning Services at Qatar National Library, said: “Kalila and Dimna is one of the most timeless Arabic literary texts. We have many rare copies of Kalila and Dimna in our Heritage Library: two manuscripts, an old book printed in Arabic in 1819, and many other printed books that date back to early 20th century. One of the two manuscripts is written in Arabic in a poetic form and dates back to 747 After Hijrah /1347 Common Era.”
“The theme and stories of Kalila and Dimna have been a great way to bring the community together at the Library,” said Hind Al Khulaifi, Manager of the Children’s and Young Adults’ Library at Qatar National Library.
“The book features beautifully illustrated tales with humorous stories about animals to capture the reader’s imagination. We hope the events held at the Library have helped to promote a love of reading in children and young adults, as well as sparked discussion and new perspectives.”
