The Mohammed bin Rashid Library, the new cultural edifice in Dubai, provides an experience rich in knowledge and beauty as it travels its visitors through time, to return to the distant past through the “library treasures” where ancient collectibles, antiques, arts, books and the first copies of a large group of Arab and international books and magazines.
On the seventh floor of the library, and across five sections, the valuable exhibits are distributed, starting from the tale of manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an, passing through rare books, down to writing instruments, pioneering medical letters and ornate atlases.
The library includes holdings related to the Holy Qur’an and Arabic calligraphy, where there are leather patches on which Quranic verses were scrawled, including what was written in the patch line, dating back to the twelfth century in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as patches dating back to the Umayyad era and the beginning of the Abbasid era. This section is adorned with golden Qur'anic copies of artistic and historical value. The exhibits are complemented by a set of Arabic calligraphy tools: gold-embossed inkwell sets, Ottoman-era calligraphers' boxes with compartments for storing calligraphers' tools and inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
The second section is the Department of Islamic Heritage in Europe and includes a group of translated Arabic books, and it presents translations highlighting the benefit of science and medicine in ancient stages when the Islamic religion entered Europe, such as the book “The History of the Arabs in Sicily” which dates back to 1970 and the book “Arabic Grammar and Grammar” which dates back for the year 1687.
As for the World Literature section, it constitutes a unique opportunity for visitors to see the first versions of the publications of international creators, for example, the writer William Shakespeare attends the second edition of his first book, which contains 36 of his plays, some of which are still shown today. A large number of international books and novels by international and Arab creators such as Tolstoy, Al-Mutanabbi and Imru' Al-Qays are also featured.
The library also celebrates women’s experiences and highlights women’s achievements since ancient times, and this is highlighted in a stylized painting from the Mughal era drawn in ink and gold.
The library includes first editions and magazine covers that fall within the framework of the finest literary production in the world and navigate the visitor to many years ago.
