This editorial was prepared by the newspaper staff

Al Maghrib - A special edition in commemoration of the first anniversary after Said Hajji passed away - 6th year, No 1189 , March 11, 1943

With the release of this edition, a whole year will have gone by since our beloved Said Hajji passed away. It was only recently that members of the Al Maghrib newspaper family resolved to devote themselves to this special commemorative edition. We think it is our duty to not let this occasion slip by without evoking the memory of the deceased who to his credit initiated this project and solidified its foundation. Even as destiny has been implacable, leaving no respite for the deceased to reveal the best of his endeavors nor to deliver his most dear aspirations, he could at least have spent precious time during his brief existence to aspire for ultimate perfection by leaving behind a united and well organized staff. He would have done all he could to develop them in conformance to his wishes and expectations.

The endeavors of the beloved Said, may the Lord have mercy on him, were not restricted to publishing a daily newspaper, nor moreover were they dominated by the sole concern of improving the environment of this publication so that it attains a status on par with the well known names of the international press. They spanned the political, cultural and social fields to the extent where one could traverse all his footpaths and thus follow the course of all that he had delivered in the arenas of politics and culture. One who begins to study the ins and outs of his endeavors will be stunned, unable to believe all the factors that contributed to the development of the deceased's personality allowing him to play such an important role in our contemporary social and cultural history.

Among the liberal professions, the deceased chose journalism because he understood its importance and found within himself an innate affinity for the press. He was convinced that he was born to be a journalist and he only needed to remember the expression "Her Majesty the Press" circulating amidst the journalistic circles to recall its extensive power and the position it held among all populations of all countries around the globe. Journalism educates, cultivates, guides and enlightens. His leanings would have been enormous had his achievements stopped at this stage by itself.

The deceased chose a journalistic career and sought to use it as a tool to struggle against the threats of apathy. According to statements often reiterated in his writings, these were threats that kept his compatriots under the yolk of servility and ignorance. Ever since this newspaper's first edition, he relentlessly kept his aim on this most noble of all purposes. An irresistible passion took over him, fired up his consciousness and pushed him to take action, sometimes impulsively and other times after careful consideration. This passion whose ideal all the more finds its basis in his will to see his Moroccan nation live up to its dignity, to live up to its past as well as to the capabilities of its youth. He was driven by this passion to see his nation move forward along the path of civilization and progress following the examples of other nations. This notion marked him since his childhood and stayed with him as he sat on school desks be they in his own country or abroad. It was the most powerful stimulus which incited him to achieve a fruitful body of work by means in part of his writings published on the columns of this newspaper as well as by other means that are not necessary to discuss here.

The "Al Maghrib" family is committed to follow the footsteps of the deceased; drawing from his life, his humanism and his endeavors the strongest stimulant to l encourage it to remain on the right path that he assigned to it. If it succeeds in its mission and if it overcomes difficulties and obstacles that others generally don't escape from, it will have achieved the utmost of his hopes. Otherwise, its good intentions will appeal on its behalf since it would have been true to the very end to fulfilling its task. Accordingly one can not accuse it of anything beyond its reach.