The room allocated to you in the Zahiriyyah Library; how did that come about?

Al-Hawini: Among the things I have read in some of your books is that you have a dedicated room in the Zahiriyyah Library. How did you attain this status, which may be difficult to achieve in...

The Shaykh : ...the Islamic countries.
Al-Hawini: Yes.

The Shaykh : ...: That is correct. I do not remember it well now. It was either because the officials at the Zahiriyyah Library felt that I was a scholar who was an enthusiast for knowledge. I used to sit in the general hall and say, "O Abu Mahdi, give me the book," meaning the manuscript. I would hardly finish one before asking for a second, third, and fourth. You know that this is not customary in libraries. Sometimes a pile of manuscripts would gather on the table. The table was set for four people, two on this side and two on the other. Because of this situation, no student could come to sit with me at that table. Without a doubt, this caused some objection from the students. It seems they mentioned to the administration that...The student : ...or that the students needed space but could not find any, especially during exam times. So it seems the officials there found a solution to the problem. They had a dark room that was not suitable for gathering firewood or sweeping the firewood in it. They offered it to me. I said to myself, as I tell my brothers, "I am a man who does not find humor, and I do not care about the issue of whether I am healthy or not."
In summary: They placed me in this room and provided me with the books I needed as references so that I would not trouble the staff by asking for this book or that book. They even left some manuscripts with me. This is the first possibility, and it is the most likely in my mind because it was after the period of...
The second possibility is that the Faculty of Sharia at the Syrian University held many meetings and decided among themselves to establish the nucleus for an encyclopedia of hadith. Unfortunately, I say, they could not find among their professors anyone to undertake this task. So they sent for me to discuss an important matter. I met with them at the university, and they presented the idea to me and asked me to work according to a methodology they had established. After deliberation on the matter, I agreed with them to work for them four hours every day, and the remaining hours for my own work, on the condition that I be allowed to enter the Zahiriyyah Library at any time I wished, night or day. ... There is a system where the library opens at eight in the morning, for example, and the workday ends at twelve. The evening shift begins at four and ends at nine, for example. I told them, "If the officials at the library allow me to do that, I will give you four hours every day." They said, "We will speak with the responsible director." Indeed, while I was in this dark room, I was supervising the entry and exit, and I was not seen because it did not attract attention.
Al-Hawini: So how did you write?

The Shaykh : ...: At night, of course, with electricity.
Al-Hawini: Ah, yes.

The Shaykh : ...: Yes, that is right.
The important thing is that I think at that time—I no longer remember—Mustafa al-Siba'i or Muhammad al-Mubarak went up to the responsible director and spoke about the matter. They sent for me and said, "We have agreed with the director that he will order the doorman, the guard, to open the door for you whenever you come." So the key to the library was in my pocket, the official door. Of course, the guard rings the bell before eight o'clock. I pray Fajr at home and set out for the library. He opens it for me, having woken up from his sleep; meaning, he was forced and compelled to do so. And so I provided them with four hours. I was working on the project of the Encyclopedia of Hadith on Sales. Perhaps you remember that I sometimes attribute things to this project.
Al-Hawini: Was it completed...?

The Shaykh : ...: No, it was not completed, or another research was completed for it.
The point is: Now, I truly cannot determine whether they decided to give me this room on this occasion or before that—and this is what seems more likely to me. They simply gave me this special permission to enter whenever I wished, night or day. This is the story of the room, which I had exclusively, unlike all the other researchers there.