Before we begin searching for an answer to that relationship that we have titled (We and Enlightenment), I will pause at what seems at first glance to be something that does not require consideration. I mean the separate subject pronoun, which indicates a group’s awareness of itself, in that “we” is the plural of “I.” Just as the pronoun “I” refers to both masculine and feminine, so too the pronoun “we” refers to both masculine and feminine plurals. When a group, or someone who has chosen to represent it without being assigned to do so, uses the pronoun “we,” this means that they have an awareness of an identity that makes them belong to the group (from the nation to the group), and they have an awareness of what the members of the group have in common.

But the speaking ego cannot possess the characteristics of a group, and a group that shares a characteristic cannot be a collection of similar individuals. Therefore, when the ego asks, “Who are we?”, it declares its affiliation with the “we” it refers to.

“We” here in the question form are the inhabitants of the region extending from the ocean to the Gulf, with its Arab majority and various minorities. The inhabitants of the Arab region, with their classes and groups, their countries and regions, their religions, sects and denominations, with their contradictions and differences.