#Trending: Twitter catches Saudi culture minister plagiarising famous poetry

Saudi Arabia's minister of culture and information has been left red-faced after online sleuths have called him out for plagiarising a poem by one of the most revered Arab poets of all time.

Adel al-Toraifi recently recited the poem at the ongoing Souk Okaz cultural festival in the city of Taif in praise of the Governor of Mecca, Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud, attributing the work to himself.

Soon after footage of the recitation was published online, observers were quick to point out that the vast majority of the poem was directly lifted from a work by Ahmed Shawqi - known in the Arab world as the "prince of poets".

The minister's poem bore a striking resemblance to certain parts of a qasida by the 20th century Egyptian poet laureate.

Two stanzas from Toraifi's ode to the governor were ripped off word-for-word, while two others had a word or two altered to disguise the blatant appropriation.

A video comparing the stolen poem with the original was widely shared on social media.

The Arabic-language hashtag #ToraifiStealsShawqiPoem has gained traction on Twitter shortly after the act of plagiarism was exposed.

Many Egyptian users joked that the Saudis were now robbing them of their cultural heritage in addition to the two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea recently handed over to Riyadh's control - a move that has caused widespread outrage in Egypt.

Translation: "This is a minister not any old guy. The least that must be done is his dismissal. The disaster is that he is the minister of culture and information."

Translation: "This is rolling on the floor laughing hilarious. This is the guy who is meant to be protecting author and publisher rights in the country."