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Scholars in the Arab world had kept civilisation going at a time when Europe was stuck in the dark ages, British ambassador Nicholas Hopton said yesterday.
Speaking at an event to mark the launch of a ‘British Book Day’ at the Qatar University’s library, the envoy said the rest of the world was “very conscious” of its debt to Arab experience and literature.
“Literature is the mark of civilisation…In the dark ages of Europe, when we were running around, living in caves, people in the Arab world were writing and reading books.
“It was the scholars in the Arab world who kept civilisation going [at a time] when the Roman empire had fallen apart, the Greeks were gone, there was nothing happening in Europe, very little literature was being written [there,] it was all happening in the Arab world,” he said.
He added that the “beautiful” languages of Arabic and English “go so well together, not only in the way we talk to each other, but also in the way we write.”
He hoped that the 300 books donated by the British embassy and British Council would be of interest to the students at Qatar University.
HE Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari was the chief guest at the event. In his brief remarks, he thanked the British embassy’s contribution to the QU library and the efforts to promote the close ties between the two countries. QU President Prof Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad was also present on the occasion.
QU Director of Library Dr Imad Bachir thanked the British embassy and British council for their “generous” donation.
He said the university library has a stock of more than 350,000 books in print and 110,000 e-books, both English and Arabic. It also has access to dozens of online databases on a variety of subjects and topics.
The library is accessible only to the Qatar University community. The services at the library include individual and group study rooms, exhibition and conference halls.