why Orbits and Inscriptions?

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.