Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the reliability and factor structure of the Arabic translation of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS-41-A), a popular trait-based emotional intelligence test in Arab countries. Design/methodology/approach-A sample of 453 professionals from Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE completed the EIS-41-A. Findings-Findings show that the Arabic scale did have acceptable reliability and demonstrated the same factor structure as the original English language scale. Research limitations/implications-Limitations of the study include the small sample size from some of the countries included. Originality/value-This is the first paper to investigate the characteristics of an Arabic language emotional intelligence scale and opens the door to further research on emotional intelligence in the Arab world.