Al-Rifai Chronicles Kuwait's Renaissance Journey Through Al-Arabi Magazine

Writer and researcher Nada Al-Rafai has published a book titled “Al-Arabi Magazine: The Memory of Kuwaitis,” researched and revised by heritage scholar Saleh Al-Musabah. The documentary work traces Kuwait’s renaissance journey from 1958 to 2025, drawing on the archives of Al-Arabi magazine and its published articles, surveys, and investigations that documented various aspects of life in Kuwait.

Marking the occasion, Al-Rafai said: “In an era when events accelerate and many memories fade, documentation becomes a necessity, not a luxury, and an inevitable duty. This book documents what Al-Arabi magazine recorded through its surveys and exploratory journeys, comprising nearly 480 surveys and investigations covering different facets of Kuwait’s modern renaissance and landmarks, undertaken by the magazine throughout its history since 1958. I did not want this book to assume merely a documentary character, despite its importance; rather, I strove to revive memories that still beat in our hearts. Every building in its pages has a story, every street echoes the footsteps of the past, and every landmark bears a fingerprint. Perhaps every reader will find in its pages a part of themselves, a memory they lived, a story they heard, or even a feeling they had forgotten.”

She noted that the book is divided into three chapters. The first chapter covers Al-Arabi magazine, scenes from memory, and the relationship it forged in the hearts and minds of Kuwaitis, followed by an introduction to Kuwait from a different perspective under the title “This is Kuwait.” The second chapter discusses the concept of “Al-Arabi,” its pan-Arab dimension, and the methodology it followed. The third chapter, which occupies the largest portion of the book, examines the manifestations and trajectory of Kuwait’s renaissance. It reviews various aspects of the renaissance in Kuwait through more than 95 topics, systematically categorized under headings such as education, health, culture, media, and so on. Other topics are listed only by title in a detailed index at the end of the book, for those wishing to learn more about any of them.