On a recent afternoon, 67-year-old Saif Islam was heading to the courtyard of a library in Chuletti, a small decision maker in Mauritania.
Decked in a flowing booobou gown Set in two shades of blue, his steps are unsteady but still commanding his presence, he sits on a grewight mats, with his black croc sandals neatly placed to the side.
“These books give this history, this significance,” he said, pointing to a 10th-century Qur’an, its pages with age. “Without these old books in the dust, Chuletti would be forgotten like any other abandoned town.”
Chuletti rose to prominence in the 13th century as a type of fortified settlement called a kSAR which served as a stop-off point for caravans leading the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes. It became a meeting place for Maghreb pilgrims on the way to Mecca, and, over time, a center of Islamic scholarship, the Scientify of the desert, and the seventh holy city, and the seventh holy city of Islam. Manuscript libraries that play host to scientific and Quranic texts date back to the later centuries.
For decades, encroaching desert sands have threatened to bury this centuries-old well of knowledge. Residents left, and tourist numbers fell. Most of the current population lives in buildings outside the original boundaries of the KSAR.
Islam, the Custodian of the Al Ahmed Mahmmed Mehmoud Library Foundation, is the only library open to the public, which fought with the World partners of ENESCO in 1996.
“Chuletti is the spiritual capital of Africa,” said Islam, who was born and spoke in the city and returned in 2015 to retire from a Mauritanian civil service.
Islam brought some manuscripts and other artefacts and placed them on the floor. An air cooler standing in a corner, to help against the intense Saharan sun. For weeks or sometimes months, he said, No visitors came.
“The tourist season is from September or sometimes December to March,” Islam said. “Before, hundreds of tourists came every day. Now, almost 200 every season. After the MaliSania season too.”
In total there are 12 red family libraries run by red libraries in the city. Together they hold more than 2,000 volumes, including queric manuscripts and books on astronomy, medicine, MSREB and West African poetry, dating back to the 11th century.
Many are among the most expensive ones made by merchants from all over the region. Some are reported to be from Abweir, a nearby settlement built according to oral tradition that was founded in AD777 and later completely submerged under sand dunes.
As much as 90% of Mauritania is considered desert or semineperter. Across Sihanel, evacuation continues to accelerate. The Chuletti dunes are now at the height of the windows of some of the town’s buildings.
Residents say that within living memory there have been 30 family-run libraries in the city, but the number has dwindled as people have left, especially during the recessions of the 1960s and 70s. A lack of tourists means little by way of funding for the few that remain. UNESCO recognition has not translated into continued financial support, they say, and promises of funding from public and private entities have not been fulfilled.
In recent years, the Madrid-based non-profit Terrachidia, working with the Mauritanian cultural authorities and the development of the Spanish development agency, has helped to restore many libraries.
The work is done by local builders and materials using traditional construction methods to ensure fidelity to the centuries-old while preserving the precious manuscripts. A 2024 cultural heritage project brings school students to KSAR for games, classes, and scavenger hunts.
“It’s beautiful,” said Mamen Moreno, a Spanish landscape architect who visited the site and is Terrachidia’s co-founder. “Some of the children have never been there before even though they have always lived in Chuletti.”
The ultimate goal, he said, is not only to preserve but to attract more resources to generate activity and perhaps bring people back. “Knowing the buildings … led to the filling of new neighborhoods, and KSAR had no life,” he said. “Cities, like houses, are preserved when they are lived in.”
Islam agrees. He said he also wants his colleagues to join the race to save the old positions from going under. “Unfortunately, I see that the Europeans are more interested in Chuletti than the Arabs or even the Mauritanian officials [but] Chuletti is in trouble, “he said.” It requires everything. “