أساتذة اللغة العربية الأوائل في أوروبا ودورهم في تجسير الهوة الفكرية بين الشرق الإسلامي والغرب الأوروبي

الملخص EN

The historiography of teaching and learning of the Arabic Language in medieval and early modern Europe has been the focus of many studies.

The emphasis of this study is the pioneer professors of Arabic Language in Europe and their role in bridging the intellectual gap between Europe and the Islamic East.

Therefore, it attempts to identify the distinguished individuals among these professors and their efforts of trying to keep the flow of knowledge going between the West and the East.

One of these pioneers was Thomas Erpenius, professor of Arabic Language in Leiden University from 1613 to 1624.

During these years he was able to search, author and publish in Arabic type works for Chrestomathy.

These books were produced in his own typography, which he established in his own house to make it easily available, and presentable for his students, such an act has never been done by a professor before.

The most notable work among all however, is his publication of Historia Saracenica or Tarikh al-Makin (602-672), after he translated into Latin.

It is the first work to be ever published in Arabic in movable type, in the field of the Islamic History.

In 1626, most of the Latin version of Makin's history was translated into English by Samuel Purchas shortly before his death in 1626, to be the first text ever published in English in the field of the Islamic History.

This work has far reaching results.

It was on early sources of the famous British historian Edward Gibbon.

It changed many of the misconceptions of the Protestant World about Muslims.

For his efforts, Thomas Erpenius deserves to merit the title "the prince of Arabists in Europe".