733 عدد المشاهدات
The word «magazine» was used by Arabs to mean «sheet or pamphlet» as stated in some old
poetry, but in the past, the Arabs did not use «magazine» in its current usage today. Amazingly,
English dictionaries mention that «magazine» is a French word that originates from the Arabic word
«makhāzin» which means stores. This conclusion is very pleasant and could not be reached by Arabs
in their golden age. We express a deep sense of gratitude for this discovery made by the west and
for using this Arabic word.
Form their very beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries in Germany and England, magazines
included a lot of news, information and pictures. Without magazines, all the recorded events of past
centuries would be lost forever. I wish people could have invented magazines and newspapers earlier
so that we can discover the very truth about the news passed on by old historian, some of them
were fair while many others were not. Unfortunately, it requires an extensive research to find the
scripts as there are no references that can affirm or deny the validity of this news. We may, or may
not, find documents.
Today, after centuries of continuous publishing, there is a non-stop massive number of newspapers
and magazines all over the globe. With the spread of the digital age, publishing became more
extensive; it is not limited to newspapers or magazines. Rather, it becomes available on websites
and social media accounts. The digital revolution made it much more widespread than before with
content increasing by thousands folds each second. For instance, in 2016 data shows that every
second more than 54,000 Google searchers are conducted and more than 2 million emails are sent,
and more than 350,000 tweets are shared on Twitter every minute. All this content is available and
stored on the servers of giant companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook. Nobody knows for
sure about the future of this information after 100 years.
Every minute, these accounts upload a great deal of information more than old publications did
a long time ago. Moreover, the digital revolution made everything available for researchers without
the need to print papers that can harm the environment. It is amazing how this information is widely
spread and easily accessible to everyone on earth. We do not know the future of printing when
paper printing is vanished as we witnessed the vanishing of old scripts, stone inscriptions and film
printing. One day paper printing will disappear and only publishing in the virtual world will remain.
The idea of launching «Orbits and Inscriptions» magazine emerged in Dubai which, under the
leadership of his Highness Sheikh Mohamad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has become famous for future
foresight, innovation and creativity. From its inception, «Orbits and Inscriptions» will be a digital
magazine that seeks to keep pace with the digital age in order to reach all readers. Writers form far
and wide can contribute and publish their articles and researches through special channels provided
that they comply with global publishing requirements. In addition and to further disseminate
knowledge, we translate the most important researches in each issue to benefit non-Arabs, especially
those who live among us but know nothing about our history, heritage and language which are
the main topics of “Orbits and Inscriptions”.
Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, Mr. Belal Al Bdour, Mr.
Shihab Ghanem, Mr. Ali Obeid and all those who encouraged me to publish this magazine. I wish
you a pleasant and useful reading and I would like to urge you to keep copies of the magazine as it
will be a scientific document for the next generations. You can get a hard copy when you subscribe
and it will be delivered to you according to terms of service.
