H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah inaugurated today the 42nd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), planned by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) with the theme “We Speak Books”, at Expo Centre Sharjah, running until 12th November.
The inauguration was held in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.
During His Highness’s speech, the Ruler of Sharjah welcomed the South Korean delegation, the Guest of Honour of the 42nd edition, and the University of Coimbra delegation, who are showcasing invaluable manuscripts from the university’s library at the book fair. The Ruler of Sharjah also welcomed participants in the 1st Sharjah International Conference on Arabic Language Studies in Europe for Non-Native Speakers, the delegation from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and the Libyan Arabic novelist Ibrahim al-Koni, Personality of the Year at the book fair.
In his inauguration speech, Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad stressed that the Arabic language is the origin of all world languages, as it was the language of Adam (PBUH) that God Almighty endowed him with.
The Sharjah Ruler along with Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), felicitated Ibrahim Al-Koni, the renowned Libyan writer and novelist, who has been named the ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ at SIBF 2023.
He compared the efforts to produce the corpus, to the linguistic dictionary of the Kingdom of Sweden. The project had 137 people working on it for 140 years, resulting in 39 volumes and 33,000 pages. Meanwhile, 500 scholars, editors, and proofreaders are working on the Historical Corpus of the Arabic Language. The Sharjah Ruler noted that it will take six years to complete 110 volumes, totaling 81,000 pages. His Highness also signed the first editions of the Historical Corpus of the Arabic Language, and Oman’s History: From Ancient Settlements to the Fall of the Ibadi State, during the opening ceremony.
During his keynote speech, Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, highlighted the remarkable growth and achievements of SIBF under the visionary leadership of Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.
