ABU DHABI, 16th September, 2026 (WAM) -- The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) is seeking to set a new Guinness World Records™ record by holding a special ‘Kalima’ Reading Club session that will bring together participants from a record number of nationalities. This attempt is significant not only for the record itself, but also for highlighting the power of books and reading to bring people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds together.
Taking place in Abu Dhabi, a city where cultural diversity is a source of connection and exchange, the initiative will provide a shared space for reading, dialogue and the exchange of knowledge.
The participating nationalities are central to this wider cultural purpose, demonstrating how a shared engagement with a book can create connections across linguistic and cultural boundaries and provide a common ground of understanding.
Dr Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the ALC, said, “The initiative to set a new Guinness World Records title is, to us, a great opportunity to celebrate reading in Arabic, and to deliver a message about the central role that this practice plays to a wider audience. It also offers us a platform to introduce the initiatives of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre and its efforts in this regard, including the Kalima Reading Club, which has succeeded in transforming reading into a bond that brings people of diverse backgrounds together around knowledge as a shared value.”
“We recognise the great importance of books as pillars of thought and knowledge, and as an active force that helps strengthen connections between various nations and civilisations,” Ali bin Tamim added. “With this initiative, which aligns with the Centre’s efforts to promote a culture of reading, we sought to create wider shared spaces where readers of different nationalities and cultures could gather around one book, engage in dialogue, exchange knowledge and experience, and establish deeper, human-centred connections within the UAE community, which is distinguished by its remarkable cultural diversity.”
The upcoming session will focus on Bedouin and ‘Abbāsid Cultural Identities: The Arabic Majnūn Laylā Story by Ruqayya Yasmine Khan, translated into English by Ahmed Ibish. The event is part of the ALC’s ‘Community Campaign to Promote Sustainable Reading’, which aims to reach 100,000 people by encouraging reading as a lasting habit, supporting the development of a knowledge-based society and fostering a culture of reading.
The session also builds on the work of the ‘Kalima’ Reading Club, which was launched by the ‘Kalima’ Translation Project in 2018 at the 28th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Since its establishment, the club has promoted reading as a shared cultural practice, providing readers with opportunities to engage with books collectively and explore ideas through discussion and dialogue.
The record attempt gives the Reading Club a broader international dimension by bringing together readers from diverse cultural backgrounds around a single book. In doing so, it builds on the club’s existing role as a platform for reflection, dialogue and cultural exchange.
The initiative is closely connected to the mission of the ‘Kalima’ Translation Project, which was launched in 2007 to introduce Arab readers to the world’s cultures through translation. Over the years, the project has translated literature and knowledge from around the world to Arabic, amassing a portfolio of over 1,400 translated books from 25 languages, covering more than ten fields of knowledge.
The connection between translation and reading is particularly significant in this context. Translation carries texts across linguistic boundaries, while reading enables individuals to interact with those texts through their own perspectives and experiences. Through the record attempt, ‘Kalima’ broadens this vision by bringing readers from dozens of nationalities together as active participants in cultural exchange.
Guinness World Records™ provides a framework for recognising the achievement, while ‘Kalima’ gives the initiative a broader cultural purpose. The objective is not simply to bring together as many nationalities as possible, but also to bring people together and harness this diversity to demonstrate the power of books in creating a shared space for understanding and communication.
The initiative therefore serves to highlight Abu Dhabi as a city where cultures meet, the UAE as a multicultural society, and Arabic as a language that supports cultural exchange and engagement with knowledge from around the world.
The record attempt reflects the core mission of the ‘Kalima’ Translation Project: to revitalise the translation movement and strengthen cultural and intellectual exchange between peoples, transforming diversity from differences in background into a value that enriches the shared cultural experience.