Excerpt taken from the book in Arabic whose title translates to "Arabic Literature of the Maghreb" by Mohammed Abbas Alkabbaj. Loose french translation by Abderraouf Hajji, english translation by Amine Hajji.
Said Hajji was a member of Morocco's youth awakened by the times and aware of its obligations. He was full of verve and enthusiasm and possessed a positively constructive vision of the future. He was full of admiration for the prestigious heritage left behind by his glorious ancestors. One of his primary goals was to regain our sovereignty and to reestablish our country's rightful place amongst the league of nations. He was amongst the protagonists who had fought for our sovereignty within the ranks of the National Movement, a movement whose activities overflowed with nationalistic aspirations.
He received his early educational development in his native town of Salé. Once he reached adolescence, he left for the Middle East to further his learning at the universities in Cairo and Damascus where he attended lectures delivered by the most esteemed and leading arab scholars of the day.
But his penchant for the press led him to devote a lot of his time to the journalistic profession. He was convinced the press offered, assuming success, the opportunity to profoundly influence his nation by awakening the public and it would also be a most effective means to appeal to the conscience of the world's nations.
Said, of whom we sketch here a quick portrait, was an energetic role model on the national stage; he was often cited for his dynamism by his colleagues. He founded the newspaper, "Al Maghrib" amidst a hostile environment during the period where colonialism blindly held tightly on to the reins of power in its attempt to silence the freedom loving men of the country. His readers recall the articles and analyses he published in his newspaper's columns. They also remember the significant influence he had on the youth in particular but also in a more general fashion on the rest of the nation as well.
Amid his writings, we bring up his call to action to the nation's youth which he evoked in these terms:
"You (the Moroccan youth) have turned your back on your cultural heritage and allowed yourselves to be swept in by an unhealthy environment. An environment which you are not able to handle without risk of contamination. An environment that overwhelms you and makes you lose your sensibilities and even behave without reflecting on the consequences of your actions. A life of debauchery which kills the soul and transforms the human condition to that of an animal awaits in ambush along your path. It preys upon your mad passions and invokes in you the worst of feelings. You have no will to better yourselves to greatness because your personal development is weak and your culture is superficial . The education you received has not penetrated to the bone so as to make you aware that a better life can exist and that there can be feelings to better stir the senses than the stifling air in which you wallow."
The words of this citation jump out with brilliance and incitement to a more conscientious undertaking of social responsibility, a responsibility incumbent on all of us.
One year after the loss of Said Hajji, his circle of friends and acquaintances as well as a number of intellectuals who greatly admired the deceased, organized a day of commemoration during which poets and literary figures spoke. Some expressed in rhyme their deep sadness for this painful event while others dedicated eulogies to the memory of the departed and to the works he undertook and left behind like an unfinished symphony.
The great historian, Mohammed ben Ali Alaoui, expressed the consensus' feelings in an affectionate and stirring statement:
"Said, driven by his thirst of learning, returned to Morocco with his cup full of knowledge acquired from the cultural resources of the Middle East. But this did not satiate him. What mattered most to him was to see his fellow countrymen attain the same level of social progress as that reached by the nations to the orient. His goal was to engender in his fellow-citizens the necessary enthusiasm to permit them to aspire to greatness. He looked across the generations making up his Moroccan society and remarked that they totally failed to appreciate what lay in their future. They were ignorant of what could befall them. He therefore took in upon himself to do all in his power to awaken those spirits in slumber and to instill a new work ethic on those who had slipped into a lazy, easy and unproductive lifestyle. With his pilgrimage walking cane in hand, he marched forward patiently, advising or dissuading his felow countrymen, and at times demanding even more of himself for the betterment and well-being of others. He thus carried an overwhelming burden during his brief existence until the day his strength dwindled completely, seriously compromising his health and ultimately causing him to succumb incurably to the divine call."
The poet and literary figure, Abdelkader Hassan, touched upon the productivity of the deceased, by noting:
"Said, you have lived fully confident of yourself, fully confident in Allah, and fully confident in all your endeavors. Like a believer anchored immovably in his beliefs to which Allah fills his heart with a breath of His Power, you have worked , worked and worked incessantly. You are seen as one who, with great self assurance, persevered in all his undertakings without bending or weakening. You have driven many programs and projects and you have had some successes. But your aspirations were even greater, their light far surpassing any projects or successes. They were the ideal images of your hopes and visions of a Morocco, free and resolutely on course on the road to progress"
The author of this biography concludes his citations with the following verses from an ode in Arabic composed by Abdelghani Skirej and which is loosely translated here:
Hero of noble seed, lie in sand; sleep in peace,
Prostrated before Him, far from all fears
Your troubles by self accorded truce will cease.
Suffice you to bear through eternal years
That which time erases not as in dream or grief.
Whilst suffered you for rights and dignity
Let history, a witness of life's journey so brief
With pride endow you true immortality.
So many writers, so many poets and literary figures have sung such praise that it is hard to fully describe his story through this brief glimpse of a life so full of spirit and vigor.
Said Hajji passed away in 1361 Anno Hegira corresponding to 1942 BC.
Mohammed ben Abbas Kabbaj.
