About Qirab™

Mission Statement

Qirab™ is dedicated to supporting the preservation of manuscripts within the Islamic cultural sphere through knowledge sharing and open source technology. We publish Arabic translations of technical texts and standards as well as produce innovative hardware and software designs.

What does “Qirab” mean?

In the Islamic bookbinding tradition, the term “qirāb” was used to refer to the sleeve cases that protected bound manuscripts. The Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation chose it to be the symbol of the Qirab project and its efforts to preserve Islamic manuscripts and other heritage. The term first appeared in a handbook titled “Kitāb al-Tasfīr fī Ṣinā’at al-Tasfīr” by Bakr ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mujāhid ibn al-Lakhmī al-Ishbīlī (d. Hijri 628/1231 AD or Hijri 629/1232 AD).

History

The Qirab™ Project was created by the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation in 2021 as a complement to our other projects. It was envisoned as a platform enabling us to share experience gained from over 25 years of striving in the manuscript heritage preservation field.

Other Foundation Projects