This commentary was published in the first edition of the cultural supplement of the newspaper Al Maghrib - No 1 April 7 1938
The consolidation of our country's future will depend on several upheavals that are destined to guide the various aspects of our individual and collective lives to be in conformance with the spirit of our times and to the adaptations needed to the flow of its development. Only in this manner will we be able to preserve our identity and to strive for the stability of our existence.
We lack many elements that could strengthen our will to extend to the nation's people the social benefits to which they are currently deprived.
On the economic front, we have no choice but to upgrade its gearing based on solid principles and on new courses.
On the political front, it behooves us to instill a new spirit into the nation's organizations so they are better aware of their rights and acquit themselves in their duties with serenity and peace.
On the country's morale front, we must fight the afflictions that have spread in our midst which have debased our morale to its current levels.
For sure we must provide a serious and sustained effort on all these fronts. However, there is one which requires us to mobilize all our energy more than all the others and at least initially: we must focus on the nation's spirit and cultural upbringing. For we see in our society today only a semblance of disparate efforts, lacking any ideology or ties to connect each individual to one another. Morocco, which has opened its eyes on the modern world for a quarter century, remains at the lowest rung with regards to its cultural upbringing.
A certain group of young Moroccans has been influenced by French upbringing, finding it spiritually appetizing and yet they are not able to digest it to produce an analogue suited for their country neither in their own mother tongue nor even in French.
Another group of young readers is inspired by the upbringing of contemporary Arab cultures and tries to emulate it, sometimes successfully and at other times suffering failure.
A third group, much closer to the traditional cultural upbringing than those mentioned above, are scholars versed in Morocco's past who made significant efforts to bring awareness to the new generation through their writings and discussions. However it is often difficult to see in their sentiments an effective cultural upbringing that engages the Moroccan mind in a clear and precise direction.
And yet no one can deny that the Moroccan soil is amongst the most fertile. No matter what cruelty befalls it, and after only a few trials, it often produces a luxuriant harvest ready for consumption.
Morocco has never known much sterility in its past nor has it been devoid of free thinkers and seasoned intellectuals. It's role today does not call for despair nor does it have to be pessimistic about the development of a surge in the nation's cultural upbringing. On the contrary, it simply invites one to reflect on the information coming from the emerging intellectual movement to seek how to make great strides towards a successful cultural upbringing.
There is no doubt that we will witness a Moroccan cultural revival. It suffices to put the necessary efforts to reconcile the intellectual heritage of Morocco with that of other civilizations whose message is transmitted to us by a group of teachers from France and by other intellectuals from abroad. A revival that will erase countless outdated viewpoints. They will be replaced with newer ones allowing us to discover amongst the secrets of our past, those that merit to emerge and be reborn.
This supplement which was released for the first time today, proposes for the most part to record the development of this movement with the hope the ideas brewed help delineate a course of action for the future. This is why the editorial staff opens the columns of this supplement to all intellectuals and asks them to use the columns as a place to express their views on Moroccan culture in its broadest sense. All sincerely written efforts deployed to serve our culture are welcome. Likewise all articles will be published that introduce certain areas of interest other than those that follow:
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Internal politics of Morocco. These type of articles should be covered in newsprint that focuses on politics. In the absence of these newspapers it is indispensable that each political group have its own public relations press. If this supplements reserves space for international politics it will be done uniquely to enlighten public opinion on events underlying contemporary history, independent of commentary or opinions on the international news of the week. These will be presented as a reference of the events without alluding to their political leanings.
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The same applies to quarrels between sectarians and reformists. These must find refuge in specific newsprint. That said, this supplement will provide utmost importance to Islamic law issues and our religious values.
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Likewise for deliberate criticisms of an individual's character -- The supplement's editorial staff recognizes for sure that critical commentary is an important factor for our cultural resurrection but will not publish criticisms that do not serve the truth or contribute to writings of good taste. The criticisms of character result in calumnious accusations which have no place in this supplement.
We apologize in advance for not publishing drafts of articles that fall into any of these aforementioned categories.
