What is an Arab house of life
Regional, Culture, 9/19/1998

Undoubtedly, writing was one of the greatest discoveries in the history of civilization, and recent studies show that writing was known for hundreds of centuries in the Arab lands.

Huge libraries and bookstores were established to collect and preserve books in these areas. Libraries and bookstores were known in the Arab region as "houses of life" because knowledge to the Arabs was, and still is, considered life, and ignorance is considered to be equivalent waste and death. Homer's odyssey which was translated into Arabic and was said to have been contained along other great books in the library of Alexandria (greatest at the time) which contained the first university in the world.

The Arabs interest in books have provided through their translation and preservation of the old Greek and Latin books the bridge that Europe needed to break away from its "dark ages" into the Renaissance.

This interest in libraries and bookstores and the establishment of ancient libraries in Sumer, Babel, Assyria, Ebla, Mari and Ugarit attracted the attention of Arab researchers and men of letters to contribute to and enhance the Arab cultural heritage.

Al-Jahez, a great Abbasid writer who died about 802 A. D., describing the importance of books said: "The book is a container of knowledge and science. It is filled with beautiful letters and it resembles a farm which one can carry in his hand. It is a garden full of roses and colored flowers. It tells about dead people and conveys the experience of living people as well."

Al-Jahez added: "I do not know that there is a more devoted friend and neighbor than a book. It is a dutiful friend, a conscientious teacher, non-arrogant companion and helpful colleague. It is always ready to protect people and reward them with the precious gems of life. It lives longer than olive trees, but its fruits can be easily picked and they never fade. One can find in it science, man's experience, the products of Arab worthy ancestors, good news items and the wise sayings and stories of past centuries about past nations."

Al-Jahez adds that the book is man's comfort in loneliness. Its flowers clarify man's views, polish his mind, sharpen his intellect and activate the latent treasures of his heart. It also amuses people by the fun they get from entertaining stories. It is always generous. It gives and never takes.

When Arab ancestors described the book they did not forget to say something about the pen. Here we have a well-known Abbasid poet called Abu Tammam describing the pen, saying: "It is like the surgeon's lancet which is used to treat the kidney and the joint. Its spittle is similar to poisonous snakes' spittle; but when it is in the hands the honey gatherers its spittle turns in of a beehive. It has a dew but this dew is heavier and more effective than heavy rain. If you stir it up it will be eloquent especially when it rides on five docile and obedient fingers. At this moment only, swords in the hands of heroes will be meek and submissive before his orders."

Al-Buhturi, another well-known Abbasid poet, said describing the pen: "It is like a virgin dressed in white... Though the intercourse is between white and black, lights are the products of this intercourse and greenery is its womb."

Books attracted the attention of the common people as well as the caliphs and rulers. During al-Ma'moun's visit to the town of Murran in the al-Ghouta (near Damascus), which was a very beautiful place, the guards of Murran asked the Caliph: Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than this place? Al-Ma'moun said: Yes, of course. It is a good book which is capable of clearing the mind, exuding good scent and odor and amusing people.

Previous Stories:
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  Nizar Qabbani: pioneer of modern Arab poetry   (5/4/1998)

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