DOHA – QNA, January 18, 2026: Al Faisal Global Foundation for Culture and Knowledge, in tandem with Al Faisal Publishing House (AFPH), has issued a new book, A Historian Without a Pen: Historical Documents and Hidden Secrets, authored by HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani.
This genre spans 480 pages across 11 chapters in both Arabic and English, showcasing, through photographs, an extraordinary perspective on reading history via heritage carpets, regarded as living documents that chronicle events and personalities from an era preceding the invention of the camera and television.
It showcases visual documentation alongside a narrative account of almost 350 rare carpets, each telling precise details about nations and peoples, leaders and rulers, myths and wars, and the transformations of civilizations over hundreds of years.
In his book’s preface, HE Sheikh Faisal underlines that not all history is written and not everything written is saved, citing carpets that chronicle history through threads, knots, and patterns from eras never lived by anyone.
He highlighted that this genre documents a portion of his rare collection of carpets to be preserved for future generations and heritage enthusiasts, hoping it will help nurture human knowledge and acknowledgment of the value of carpets as witnesses to civilizations.
The book traverses awe-inspiring narratives, from “Half a Carpet” and “A Treasure by Chance” to “The Maker of Happiness”, highlighting the social role of carpets in Qatar and worldwide.
It reviews heritage carpets from Egypt, the cradle of civilization, Algeria as a national identity, Morocco as a cross-border culture, and enduring crafts in Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and beyond.
One-chapter documents carpets tied to leaders, their histories, and governance, alongside carpets that “speak politics” or were “made behind bars”.
The genre also traces the impact of Islamic civilization on carpet-making globally, exploring historic themes like travel and falconry between Qatar, India, and other lands, rendering each carpet a living visual record of human history.