The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has set a Guinness World Record through its Kalima Reading Club, which brought together the largest number of nationalities ever for a single reading session of one book.
The event organised by Kalima Reading Club in collaboration with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities was held at Zayed National Museum. It brought together 226 participants representing 69 nationalities, taking reading sessions beyond their traditional boundaries and turning it into a symbol of cultural interaction and civil dialogue.
His Excellency Dr Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC, said: “Setting a new Guinness World Record in reading strengthens our efforts to promote the practice, while also supporting the leadership’s vision in that regard. It is an exceptional opportunity to celebrate reading and to deliver a vibrant message about its vital role and importance to a wider global audience. It offers us a chance to introduce the initiatives of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre and highlight its sustained efforts in this field. This includes the Kalima Reading Club, which has succeeded in turning the simple act of reading into a human bond that brings people closer together, despite their different perspectives, converging on knowledge as a supreme value.”
“Seeing the wide range of nationalities that participated in the session has only strengthened our conviction that reading is one of the most effective tools to foster diversity,” His Excellency affirmed. “Reading broadens our perspectives and creates wider spaces for connection. It is no coincidence, then, that the book at the heart of this cultural session is itself multifaceted: the author is an American of Pakistani descent who studies Bedouin and Abbasid cultural identities, drawing upon one of the masterpieces of Arab cultural heritage – the story of ‘Majnun Layla’.”
“Through the topic it examines, the book showcases how every great cultural work embodies diverse human influences and draws from a multitude of cultural sources,” H.E. bin Tamim added. “This is precisely what immortalises these works, ensuring they remain open to reinterpretation across various mediums, from literature and screen adaptations like films and series, to music and other cultural industries that highlight the boundless creativity of the human imagination.”
“We recognise the tremendous role that books play as pillars of thought and knowledge, and as an active force that strengthens connections among different people and civilisations,” the ALC Chairman continued. “With this initiative, which forms part of the Centre’s vision, we sought to open wider shared spaces where readers of different nationalities and cultures could come together over a single book, engage in dialogue, share experiences, and forge stronger and more cohesive human connections within the UAE’s uniquely diverse cultural community.”
Participants gathered around the book ‘Bedouin and Abbasid Cultural Identities: The Arabic Majnūn Laylā Story’ by Dr Ruqayya Yasmine Khan, translated into Arabic by Dr Ahmad Ebish. The book is an icon of Arab and human heritage, where the concepts of love, identity, and human connection that transcends geographic boundaries all intersect. Discussing this work with a wide spectrum of nationalities highlights Arabic literature’s unique ability to speak to the global conscience, opening the door to rich cultural dialogue that enhances the engagement of different cultures with shared human emotions.
The discussion brought together Dr Hana Subhi, Professor of French Language and Literature at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and Dr Bilal Orfali, Professor of Arabic Language and Islamic Studies at New York University Abu Dhabi, in a session moderated by Fatima Ibrahim Al Ameri, writer and editor at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre.
This achievement is one of the objectives of the Community Campaign to Support Sustainable Reading, launched by the ALC to mark National Reading Month 2025, in preparation for the 34th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair last year, and in line with the UAE’s declaration of 2025 as the ‘Year of Community’.
The campaign aims to reach 100,000 readers in 2026. In its second cycle, launched in conjunction with the ‘Year of Family 2026’, the campaign successfully reached more than 62,000 people in the first half of the year. It translates the ALC’s strategy to support the presence of the Arabic language and promote a culture of reading in society.
Furthermore, the campaign aims to unlock the potential and talents of various segments of the community, particularly younger generations, empowering them to master the Arabic language, which forms an integral component of community identity and an expression of its heritage and values. This, in effect, promotes reading as a sustainable practice across different groups and supports efforts to build a robust knowledge economy.
The Kalima Reading Club is a pioneering community initiative launched by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre in 2018, with an aim to drive a transformative shift in the community’s relationship with reading, turning it from a limited individual activity into an enduring communal practice. The Club strives to facilitate access to knowledge in Arabic for all segments of the community, through interactive sessions that discuss books published by the ALC’s Kalima Project for Translation and Esdarat Project for Arabic Publishing at local, regional, and international book fairs, in collaboration with government and academic institutions. It also organises cultural events at international book fairs and book signing ceremonies for Emirati and Arab authors.
The Kalima Project for Translation was established in 2007 as Arab readers’ gateway to the world, amassing a substantial catalogue of more than 1,500 books translated from 25 languages.
The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre’s inclusion among the Guiness World Records highlights the power of books to create wider spaces for understanding, transform cultural differences into added value that enriches the human conscience, and strengthens the use of the Arabic language as a bridge, open to other civilisations and peoples. It also reinforces the vision of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a global hub of cultural diversity and tolerance.
