Riyadh, October 31 (QNA) - The King Abdulaziz Public Library houses more than 32,000 titles of rare books of immense historical and scientific value, including quite phenomenal collections of early European editions that document the beginnings of European researchers' interest in the Prophet Muhammad's biography, the Holy Quran and Islamic studies. 
These collections suggest that European scholars had a substantive interest in Islamic scholarship, with a lot of rare material now preserved on the library's shelves.
They broadly encompass 78 books on the Prophet Muhammad's biography, 113 books on the meanings of the Holy Quran translated into early European languages, 55 books on Quranic studies and 54 books addressing Islamic sources. Together, they offer plenty of material for researchers, suggesting a breadth of historical engagement that is almost as remarkable as the collections themselves.
The library also showcases rare Arabic editions printed in Europe in 1592 and 1593, most notably Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine and Abd al Qahir al Jurjani's Asrar al Balagha, alongside a lot of works on Islamic sciences, language and heritage. These early editions hold a substantive place in the annals of printed scholarship and are among the library's historically significant holdings.
The library's holdings include 8,271 catalogued titles of rare Arabic books, as well as collections from private libraries, foremost among them the collection of American orientalist George S. Rentz, which contains almost 3,265 books in foreign languages, and the library of Hamza Boubakeur, former dean of the Islamic Institute and imam of the Paris Mosque, which comprises 17,170 titles across 19,821 volumes in Arabic, French, English, German and Russian. 
The collections fill many shelves and reflect the library's commitment to preserving rare works in a wide range of languages.
These holdings span Islamic sciences, literature, travel writing, geography and the history of countries, representing an immense body of knowledge available to researchers and interested readers. They substantially support historical and cultural studies and preserve the printed heritage for generations to come. (QNA)