Tareq was born in Hayy al Wasat, an area of Kuwait that borders Sharq and Qibla, opposite Seif Palace. Although no official birth records were kept in those days, according to his mother, Aisha, he was born in Sanat Al Haddamah (the year of destruction), which was 1934 and was the year in which torrential rains brought much destruction to the old town of Kuwait. Tareq’s father, Sayid Fakhri, was a businessman and agent for Singer sewing machines in Kuwait and Iraq. However, he died when Tareq was only five years old and was, in turn, brought up by his mother and grandfather while retaining only a few vague memories of his father. Tareq’s grandfather, Sayid Omar Asim, was the headmaster of Kuwait’s first school, Al-Mubarakiya, and kept a watchful eye over his grandson. His brother Hashem Rajab and his two older half-brothers, Ibrahim and Farhan Al-Farhan, also took Tareq under their wing and were also his guardians.

Tareq was fortunate to grow up in a scholarly household, thanks to his grandfather, who was also an avid book collector. His brother, Farhan Al Farhan, was also strongly influenced by his grandfather. He became an author, writing one of the first compendiums of Kuwait children’s stories, rhymes and folk tales. Unfortunately, Tareq suffered from congenital arthritic spondylitis in his knee, which would plague him for his entire life. This often meant that despite wanting to play outside with other children, he was unable to and, instead, was forced to stay indoors and entertain himself with his grandfather’s books. It was not until going to school at Al-Mubarakiya, that Tareq discovered his great interest in history and geography, spending much time in both the school library and the town library, the only one of its kind in Kuwait at the time. So frequent were his visits to Kuwait’s first bookshop, owned by Mohamed Al Ruwayih, that he was allowed to borrow any book free of charge before exchanging it for another once he had finished. He was also very fortunate to be taken under the wings of three well-known Kuwait scholars, who took a particular interest in his upbringing and education, serving as major role models at that time. These scholars were Sheikh Ali Al-Jassar, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Jarrah and Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Duaij. A few years later, aged thirteen, Tareq became particularly interested in religion and decided to move into the mosque near his house for a time. During this period, the three scholars took exceptional care of him. They encouraged his learning, which included memorising the Quran by heart and learning about Islamic history.

At this time, Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Duaij encouraged Tareq to pay a visit to Baghdad, the old capital of the Abbasid Empire that Tareq had read so much about, to see if he could find and buy some old books and manuscripts. And so, Sheikh Abdulrahman gave Tareq a fabulous sum of 100 rupees and, with further encouragement from Ali Al-Jassar and Mohammed Al-Jarrah, made the arrangements for the trip. At just fourteen years old, Tareq set off on the adventure of a lifetime.