The question, "Why have we not documented?" does not simply mean "Why have we not written?" We have not posed the question of Tadween (documentation/inscription) to ourselves as an existential value. Why have we not asked ourselves this existential question, even though we as Arabs are often accused—or accuse ourselves—of being oral societies? At this level, Tadween is understood to mean that we do not record, that is, we do not write. This aligns with the broader concept of Tadween as a comprehensive process of constructing and reconstructing Arab-Islamic culture—or what was historically termed the "Era of Tadween," meaning recording, binding, editing, and archiving—as though Tadween was, in the beginning, writing. Must we write merely so it can be said of us that we are a nation of Tadween?

This judgment appears legitimate within the narrow conceptualization of the word Tadween. However, if we consider a testament of world culture such as Socrates—a sage and witness to the birth of a global civilization—he never wrote in the sense of Tadween. Yet, he remained alive; indeed, his ideas remain alive within us to this day. This demonstrates that the vehicle for an idea is not necessarily the act of writing as Tadween, but rather the act of speech. Writing is a bare reveal through which an idea is exposed via its medium (language). Thus, Tadween through writing translates our ideas, and in doing so, translates our struggle for survival.

Yet, not all words can fully contain the weight of an idea. Therefore, we sometimes write hidden between the margins of phrasing according to a specific structure, and often we write while remaining silent within the domain of narrative (storytelling).

The endurance achieved by Tadween as a struggle does not merely compel us to perform the act of writing; it allows us to direct our attention to the very act of inscription itself. Hence, the educator's words were held sacred as though they were written text. We frequently repeat the proverb, "Learning in youth is like engraving on stone," which points us toward a deeper meaning: the meaning of the Trace (l'empreinte / the trace).

The trace does not require writing as much as it requires time—that is, grasping the moment as an existential moment through immersion in the flowing continuum of time to express and reveal our existence. Thus, Tadween through writing becomes a realization of existence, if not the very secret of existence itself, thereby endowing writing with its sanctity. Writing, as Tadween, trace, survival, and struggle, can only be understood as an origin of existence.

Therefore, our aim behind Al-Tadween journal is simply to open academic platforms for writing. Consequently, the articles in this first issue are diverse in topics and analytical approaches, ensuring the participation of a broad spectrum of scholars from the social sciences, humanities, and literature across multiple languages. We have also ensured contributions from university professors across Algeria and abroad, enriching Tadween with the vision we strive to achieve: not merely writing, but an authentic trace of existence.