Albabtain’s Center for Authenticating Poetic Manuscripts

          "Albabtain Center for Authenticating Poetic Manuscripts" was inaugurated during a ceremony held in Alexandria, Arab Republic of Egypt, on Wednesday, November 14, 2007. This initiative was in line with the directives of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain Cultural Foundation, the poet Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain. It aimed to support the Arab cultural scene, enhance the position of Arabic poetry, and promote its creative and aesthetic values, both old and new, within this landscape.

          The foundation appointed the eminent scholar Dr. Mahmoud Ali Makki as an advisor to the center and a reviewer for all its publications. This appointment reaffirmed the foundation's commitment to ensuring quality, authenticity, and methodological rigor in the center's publications.

          The center's initial works included three new publications: "The Sicilian Poetry Collection," edited by Dr. Fawzi Issa; "The Son of ibn Sharaf Al-Qayrawani's Collection," edited by Dr. Ashraf Najja; and "The Collection of Ibrahim Ibn Al-Mahdi Al-Abbasi," edited by Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Abushawarb.

          According to the center's plan, a book is to be published every two months.

          The foundation defined the center's objective as the exploration of the hidden treasures of our ancient Arab poetry, which still remain imprisoned in the archives, and the rediscovery of the masterpieces of our poets that have been forgotten with time. The foundation entrusted a group of experienced scholars specializing in heritage documentation, research, and publication with this task. Additionally, the center includes poetic anthologies and manuscripts recently authenticated by diligent researchers, which have not been previously published in scholarly works.

          Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain Cultural Foundation chose to collaborate with a prominent and widely recognized publishing house, Dar Al-Wafa in Alexandria, for the center's publications. The foundation entrusted them with the production and effective distribution of these publications, in line with the center's objectives.