gems, ancient jewelry, ancient gems, Islamic gems, Islamic jewelry, Arabic mineralogy

My interest in the heritage of Islam began when my father sent me to school in Jerusalem where I visited the holy places and learned to appreciate the greatness of their architectural design and the beauty of their decoration. While living there, I also had the opportunity to observe the walls, gates, and water system of the Eternal City, all of which testified to the scientific knowledge and the technical skills of the Muslim craftsmen. My vision of the Islamic past, reinforced by many visits to other historic cities of the world of Islam—Damascus of the Umayyads, Baghdad of the Abbasids, Fatimid Cairo, Seljuq Konya, Fez, Granada, Qayrawan, Sanaʿa, Delhi, Bukhara, to mention only a few—remained simply a vision, until my wife Hussa, with her enthusiasm and perseverance, encouraged me to translate this vision into reality and to begin collecting Islamic art. From 1975, when I acquired my first pieces, my love for Islamic art continued unabated until I had acquired more than 20,000 objects of various kinds. My decision, and that of my wife Hussa, to place our collection under the aegis of the Kuwait National Museum was made after consultations and discussions with many colleagues and friends. Once agreement was reached and the building within the Kuwait National Museum complex to house the Islamic collection was decided upon, the date for the opening had to be set. There did not seem to be a more auspicious occasion for the opening of this part of the Museum than the country’s National Day. The resolve shown, particularly by my wife Hussa and by Dr. Marilyn Jenkins of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and her colleagues, made it possible to mount this exhibition in spite of the very limited time available. I hope those who visit it will judge it kindly and will pardon us if it is not yet in an ideal form. It is our hope that over the years it will attain a position with the great museums of the world.