The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair has chosen Al Farahidi, the eminent linguist, as the central figure of its 35th edition. This selection celebrates his pioneering contributions to the Arabic language, most notably his authorship of the first Arabic dictionary, "Kitab al Ayn". It also highlights his development of the system of diacritical marks in Arabic script, alongside his foundational role in establishing the principles of Arabic prosody, as well as his contributions to the study of music and poetic metre.