In celebration of World Arabic Language Day, the Saudi Association of Arabic Literature held a symposium titled, Literature and Linguistic Knowledge" in coordination with the UQU Vice-dean of Arabic Language and King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language. The event took place at King Abdulaziz Supporting Hall in presence of UQU President, Dr. Bakri Matouq Assas, member of board of trustees of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language, Dr. Ahmed Al-Salim, Dean of College of Arabic Language, Dr. Abdullah Al-Qani, Head of Saudi Association of Arabic Literature, Dr. Zafir Al-Amri, and the vice-deans and staff of College of Arabic Language.

The ceremony commenced with recitation of Quranic verses, followed by a speech of the Head of Saudi Association of Arabic Literature, Dr. Zafir Al-Amri, where he cited a brief speech by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and addressed his wise leadership's concern with Arabic language: "Our Arabic language is a language of culture and civilization. It's the language of our perfect religion. It's a world language that covered beliefs, cultures, and civilizations and spread across international communities. It's a living language that influences other languages and gets influenced by them." He added that the world status of Arabic language makes it essential to give great care to the language in this age, where values overlapped and languages compete culturally. It's our duty to make our children aware of the great status of their Arabic tongue and attach considerable importance to it in education, public and private sectors. On this occasion, the College of Arabic Language and the Saudi Association of Arabic Literature are pleased to present researches that serve the language of Quran. Al-Salim lauded the support of the UQU President, Dr. Assas, to the Association and its activities.

Then he delivered a speech in which he mentioned that celebrating Arabic Language Day is a duty for Arabs and Muslims to honor their holy book's language, civilization and culture. KSA has been offering financial and moral support to serve Arabic language regionally and internationally since the reign of the late King Abdulaziz till the current reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who said, "KSA, our homeland, is a native Arab country that made Arabic the language of all laws and education. We back its presence in different domains. Colleges, institutes, departments, and research institutions have been founded in and out KSA to support Arabic language teaching". 

In this respect, Al-Salim highlighted the Kingdom's efforts in supporting Arabic language and linguistic identity in Arab countries, and by establishing Arabic language teaching centers and institutes in a number of non-Arab countries besides teaching it to non-Arab students in Saudi universities.   

Those efforts include establishment of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language, which exerts significant effort across all continents. Such efforts are manifested in Prince Sultan Program that works to boost Arabic language status in UNISCO. Al-Salim noted that the Kingdom's major support to Arabic language programs in UNISCO contributed to the UN General Assembly's decision, on its 28th convention, to approve Arabic as one of the official UN languages. Hence, it's celebrated on this day of December as the World Arabic Language Day. In this regard, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language made partnerships with a number of universities and educational institutions (UQU, KAU, Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, King Khalid University, Qasim University, and the Saudi Association of Arabic Language) to accomplish its mission in serving the language of Quran.

He thanked attendance and said that he looked forward to the recommendations of the symposium by UQU and the Saudi Association of Arabic Literature.

Later, Assas delivered a speech on the occasion. He maintained that Arabic language has a special status as Allah made it the language of Quran and Islam. It's celebrated in our religious heritage and civil history. Since caliphate times, Arabic has been on top of scholars' interests, where every student of Islam attached a great focus to besides the linguists that were keenly into Arabic literature and different arts.

He continued, "Arabic is an ambassador to the immortal culture of Islam and Saudi Arabia, it's homeland from which it emerged to the world. With this in consideration, Vision 2030 outlines Arabic and Islamic culture as the valuables of the Saudi society. KSA represents the strategic depth of Arabism and Islam; it's a privilege from Allah to our honorable country. May Allah allow for our prosperity to last under the wise leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud and his honest Crown Prince".

He said, "Arabic language is a knowledge power and a civilization tool. In this respect, it has become a branch of humanities that UQU has given major concern to since inception. College of Arabic Language is one of its oldest colleges."

He illustrated that UQU celebrates the occasion represented by the Saudi Association of Arabic Literature and College of Arabic Language in cooperation with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language through the research papers presented by the esteemed professors of literature and linguistics, who manifested Arabic as a world language that acquired attention of language governance, translation and modern technology.

Assas then honored the member of board of trustees of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Arabic Language and received a shield from the Saudi Association of Arabic Literature.

Afterwards, the symposium first session started under the moderation of Dr. Abdullah Al-Zahrani, and the participation of Dr. Salih Al-Zahrani and Dr. Haifaa Fida who talked about rhetoric and lexicons in "Al-Raghib Al-Asfahani Book". The session concluded with presentation of Dr. Muqbil Al-Dadi's paper, "Arabic Grammar Approach in Studying Poetry and its Necessity".

The event concluded with the second academic session moderated by Dr. Ahmed Al-Edwani in which Dr. Samir Hamid participated with his work paper, "Arabic Literature and Linguistic Lesson". It's worth mentioning that Dr. Ibrahim Al-Baaoul presented a paper titled, "Morphological Structures and Poetic Rhythm". Finally, Dr. Hani Farrag presented his "Rhetoric in Lexicon: Usage and Pattern".