Al-Hilal was founded by Jurji Zaidan in 1892. It is the longest continuously published periodical in the Arab world. In 2017 it celebrated its 125 years of publication and continues to be published to this day.
Al-Hilal played and continues to play a central role in the cultural and intellectual history underpinning the Arab and Egyptian renaissance (Nahda). In recognition of this role the Library of Alexandria in 2012 digitized the Al-Hilal issues as part of its project on the Memory of Modern Egypt.
These are now being posted on the Zaidan Foundation website in PDF form for the first time with the assistance of Dr Ismail Serageldin, Librarian, and the Library of Alexandria which is gratefully acknowledged. All the Al-Hilal issues from its inception in September 1892 to February 2007 — 115 years – are presented and divided into 217 folders as follows:
Major Articles
Click below to read major articles that were written by Jurji Zaidan between 1892 and 1914 and published in Al-Hilal.
These articles were compiled in Mukhtārāt Jurjī Zaydān and published in book form by Dar-al-Turath in Beirut in 1969.
Complete Novels
Next comes 14 files with complete novels that were serialized in Al-Hilal — 11 of which were part of Jurji Zaidan’s twenty historical novels covering Islamic history from pre-islamic times until the Ottoman Empire. The links to read any of these eleven novels are included below.
1899 ‘Adhrā’ Quraysh [The Virgin of Quraysh]
1900 17 Ramaḍān [The 17th of the Month of Ramadan, year II H: the Battle of Badr]
1900 Ghādat Karbalā’ [The Maiden of Karbala]
1902 Al-Ḥajjāj bin Yūsuf [Al-Ḥajjāj bin Yūsuf, Ruler of Iraq, and the Revolt of ‘Abd Allāh ibn Al-Zubayr]
1903 Fatḥ al-Andalus [The Conquest of Andalusia]
1904 Shārl wa ‘Abd al-Raḥmān [Charles Martel and ‘Abd al-Rahmān: The Battle of Poitiers]
1905 Abū Muslim al-Khurasānī [Abū Muslim al-Khurasānī and the Birth of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate]
1908 ‘Arūs Farghāna [The Bride of the Ferghana Valley]
1909 Aḥmad bin Ṭūlūn [Aḥmad bin Ṭūlūn, Ruler of Egypt]
1910 ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Nāṣir [‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Nāṣir, Caliph of Cordoba]
1911 Al-Inqilāb al-‘Uthmānī [The Ottoman Revolution]
Al-Hilal Issues between
1892 – 2007
September 1892 to May 1946:
55 annual files with 28 additional Index files for the first 28 years. Issues that do not have a separate Index folder very often have an index at the end of each issue.
January 1947 to December 2006:
118 Bi-annual files almost all of them consisting of six issues each; and one additional file for the final year 2007.
January 1951 - June 1951
July 1951 - December 1951
January 1952 - June 1952
July 1952 - December 1952
January 1953 - June 1953
July 1953 - December 1953
January 1954 - June 1954
July 1954 - December 1954
January 1955 - June 1955
July 1955 - December 1955
January 1956 - June 1956
July 1956 - December 1956
January 1957 - June 1957
July 1957 - December 1957
January 1958 - June 1958
July 1958 - December 1958
January 1961 - June 1961
July 1961 - December 1961
January 1962 - June 1962
July 1962 - December 1962
January 1963 - June 1963
July 1963 - December 1963
January 1964 - June 1964
July 1964 - December 1964
January 1965 - July 1965
July 1965 - December 1965
January 1966 - June 1966
July 1966 - December 1966
January 1967 - May 1967
June 1967 - November 1967
December 1967 - 75th Anniversary Issue
January 1968 - June 1968
July 1968 - December 1968
January 1971 - June 1971
July 1971 - December 1971
January 1972 - June 1972
July 1972 - December 1972
January 1973 - June 1973
July 1973 - December 1973
January 1974 - June 1974
July 1974 - December 1974
January 1975 - June 1975
July 1975 - December 1975
January 1976 - July 1976
August 1976 - December 1976
January 1977 - June 1977
July 1977 - December 1977
January 1978 - February 1978
July 1978 - December 1978
January 1981 - June 1981
June 1981 - December 1981
January 1982 - June 1982
July 1982 - December 1982
January 1983 - June 1983
July 1983 - December 1983
January 1984 - June 1984
July 1984 - December 1984
January 1985 - June 1985
July 1985 - December 1985
January 1986 - June 1986
July 1986 - December 1986
January 1987 - June 1987
July 1987 - December 1987
January 1988 - June 1988
July 1988 - December 1988
January 1991 - June 1991
July 1991 - December 1991
January 1992 - July 1992
August 1992 - December 1992
January 1993 - June 1993
July 1993 - December 1993
January 1994 - June 1994
July 1994 - December 1994
January 1995 - June 1995
July 1995 - December 1995
January 1996 - June 1996
July 1996 - December 1996
January 1997 - June 1997
July 1997 - December 1997
January 1998 - June 1998
July 1998 - December 1998
January 2001 - June 2001
July 2001 - December 2001
January 2002 - June 2002
July 2002 - December 2002
January 2003 - June 2003
July 2003 - December 2003
January 2004 - June 2004
July 2004 - December 2004
January 2005 - June 2005
July 2005 - December 2005