Escape of time

Introduction: I recall while writing this introduction events that have passed a long time ago, as if they happened yesterday. This state is almost the dominant one for me when I open the door to remembrance and recollection of things, and this is the case for many I speak to with this feeling. I find they find what I encounter in a form that expresses a general collective state that calls for reading and contemplation. Based on this, (Arab Magazine) initiated a discussion about the escape of time and the acceleration of events in a way we see as close, while they actually happened a long time ago. Some attribute this situation to the network of communications and transportation that brought everything closer, sped everything up, and increased the acts of occurrence in a terrifying way, causing events to accumulate at a tremendous speed, thus canceling the earlier events amid multiple endless births, making time continuous with events and not interrupted, with no time for emptiness, remembrance, or review. Time becomes a mass filled with happening, so things are forgotten, and when they return periodically, we remember them as if they were yesterday; because we did not give them their right of contemplation, remembrance, and life. It is as if they were born quickly and died quickly, and the time did not allow our memory to contemplate them because the time is crowded, sequential, and organized due to the rapid accelerating occurrence. Does time physically shrink or expand? This question is answered by specialists in relevant fields, and there are many details depending on the studied scope. Perhaps the contributions of the honorable guests who participated in forming the (Arab Magazine) file for this issue have pointed to this aspect. I conclude by referring to the escape of time in happy moments, as everyone repeats that beautiful times with a beloved, friend, or relative pass quickly, while sad times extend and extend, including times of illness, God forbid, from us and you. So, do we understand from the state of the escape of time that many people feel today that it is an indicator that they are living a happy life?! I hope so for everyone. In this issue you will read: Six distinguished authors who wrote only a novel, Ahmed Susa between Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula, Naguib Mahfouz as a playwright.