Its first edition was published nearly 70 years ago, edited by the scholar and historian Hussein Mounis, who began the book by asking about the borders of the East that the title refers to, stressing that they are not geographical borders. Marrakesh, which extends to the west farther than France and Britain, is part of the East. In fact, if you land on its land, you find yourself in the heart of the East while you are still on the Atlantic coast.
East also wonders, for what? West compared to what? Isn't Europe east to America? Isn't this east for China and Japan?
He adds: "There are two different worlds. If a person moves from one to the other, he feels that he is in a new atmosphere, and he feels that he is actually among people who are different from those he left behind. There is an Eastern mentality and a Western mentality."