Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi Launches New Book ‘Let Them Know She Is Here: Searching for the Queen of Mleiha’ at Sharjah International Book Fair 2025

📷WAM

SHARJAH, November 12, 2025 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Book Culture, has launched her new book titled “Let Them Know She Is Here: Searching for the Queen of Mleiha” at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025). The book is published by Rewayat, the literary imprint of Kalimat Group.

In the book’s foreword, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi writes:

“This book is not just a story. It is a spell, an invocation, a sacred weaving of memory and myth. It is the unraveling of my roots, roots sunk deep into the soil of my ancestors, tangled with spirit, grief, longing, and love. As I unravel my roots, I unravel my soul, tracing the footsteps of those who walked long before me, whose echoes remain in every grain of sand and every gust of wind.”

Structured in two complementary parts, the book blends personal reflection with scholarly research. The first section presents Sheikha Bodour’s insights on life, belonging, culture, and identity, weaving a narrative of self-discovery and the profound connection between people and their land.

The second part offers an in-depth study of matriarchal kingdoms in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Mleiha, drawing from archaeological discoveries such as the Abiel coins—artefacts that indicate the existence of ancient Arab queens whose names were inscribed on the currency unearthed in the region.

Through this synthesis of personal memoir, archaeology, and cultural research, “Let Them Know She Is Here” retraces Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi’s exploration of her own heritage through travel, mountaineering, and historical inquiry. The narrative also examines Mleiha’s cultural and social legacy, situating it as a vital link to understanding Arab identity, women’s leadership, and dynastic history.

The work highlights several prominent Arab queens, including Queen Zenobia, the Queen of Sheba, the Moon Queens of Saba, and Queen Shams, culminating in a cartographic map that traces the distribution of ancient Arab queens and their kingdoms across the Arabian Peninsula.

With a balance of academic precision and poetic depth, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi’s book invites readers to reinterpret Arab history through a new lens, celebrating the role of women in shaping the region’s early civilizations and restoring their stories to the historical narrative.