"He Who Opens a School Closes a Prison"

To Jouaya... that peaceful village crouching upon one of the hills of South Lebanon... a caravan of automobiles set out, to share with its people their celebration of the inauguration of their new college.

Handfuls of gold, scattered by that town's faithful emigrants over one of its level squares, to raise a stout lighthouse of learning — the first of its kind in that region of Lebanon, where ignorance, disease, and poverty brood under the wing of destructive feudal estates.

All the people of Jouaya flocked that day to the courtyard of the new college, where they gathered — women, men, and children — to welcome their guests. They received the arrivals with cheers, with applause, and with those stirring popular chants that tell how greatly this simple, deprived people loves light and learning; while the band of the Amiliyya College played rousing patriotic anthems.

The speech-making ceremony took place in the college's great hall, where the platform was taken in turn by Messrs. Shawqi Kamel Saidi, who thanked those present in the name of the people of the town of Jouaya with gracious words that came from the depths; then Mr. Kazem al-Khalil, former deputy for the South, who voiced his admiration for this mighty project.

As for the orator of the celebration, Mr. Said Takieddine, he delivered a splendid address in his inimitable style, which shed over the gathering an air of well-tempered wit. The audience applauded him long. Then this oratorical festival turned into a veritable Souk Okaz, as no small number of poets contended upon its platform, among them the poet Abdul Husayn al-Abdallah and Muhammad Mahmoud al-Zayn. They kindled the fire of enthusiasm in the breasts of those present, who applauded and cheered them at length.

As for the address of His Excellency the Minister of National Education, Dr. Salim Haidar, it was the crowning touch; in it he soared with his eloquence and his lofty letters. Among the things he said: "We are all brothers, whether we be Phoenicians, Syrians, or Arabs — brothers in language, in customs, in homeland, and in race." Then he called for the constructive feudalism — namely, the feudalism of thought and culture. He closed his address by thanking the committee in charge of this project, at its head Mr. Kamel al-Saidi and Mrs. Aliya his wife, who have both exerted palpable efforts in its founding and its growth. He then conveyed to them the government's thanks and appreciation, in its conferring upon the struggler Kamel al-Saidi the Order of Public Instruction of the First Class.

After the ceremony ended, the guests passed in to a sumptuous, generous buffet, where they were served by a large number of the college's pupils in their handsome official dress.

A project such as this deserves support and encouragement, above all since its seeds have been scattered in the virgin soil of the South, and it will bear fruit, God willing, in a conscious, enlightened generation.

One wonders?... when will the sun of learning rise over every corner of Lebanon, polishing minds, refining souls, and renewing mentalities?...