In December, 1951, an Egyptian delegation led by Fu'ād Sayyid ‘Imāra, the head of Arabic manuscripts in the Egyptian National library, arrived in Aden on their way to microfilm Yemeni manuscripts. They were received in Ta‘izz by Imam Aḥmad and Foreign Minister Qadi al-‘Amrī and then flew on to Ṣan‘ā', where they had access to the Western Library of the Great Mosque. They were able to microfilm about 300 manuscripts, including from the collections of the former Imam Yaḥyā and other private collections. This important bibliographic volume is available online.
The topics covered in the manuscripts copied were the following: 110 on kalām, 35 on fiqh and ‘uṣūl, 33 on ta'rīkh, 20 on ḥadīth, 20 on adab, 19 on tafsīr and ‘ulūm al-Qu'rān, 13 on lugha, 8 on Ismā‘īliyya and extreme Shi‘a groups, 5 on various subjects, 3 on qarā'āt and tajwīd, 3 on siyāsa and ijtimā‘ and 2 on manṭiq. Because many of the manuscripts come from royal collections, this is a great asset for anyone studying Zaydi Yemen.
Selections from the Great Mosque Western Library
In addition to manuscripts, they photographed inscriptions and artifacts in the Ṣan‘ā' Museum. While the delegation was in Yemen they heard about the famous Phillips archaeological expedition in Ma'rib and they comment on this.
Selections from private library of Sayf al-Islām ‘Abd Allāh