The programme for this event includes round tables and conferences focusing on topics related to "the Religion of Love", "Persian mystical poetry" and "the message of Love, Rumi and the legacy of Persian Music".

The 9th edition of the Fez Festival of Sufi Culture, which will be held from 18 to 25 April under the theme "the religion of Love: From Rabiaa, Ibn Arabi, Rumi to the present day", aims to be a crossroads for discovering the spiritual heritage of Sufism in Morocco as well as throughout the world, stated the Festival president, Faouzi Skali.

Mr Skali, who was speaking during a press conference on Friday evening in Casablanca, dedicated to presenting the programme for this edition, organised under the high patronage of H.M. King Mohammed VI, indicated that the festival aims to help people discover this spiritual heritage through its various cultural, artistic and social expressions.

Regarding the theme chosen for this edition, the Festival president emphasised that love has been lived, sung and expressed in all forms of life and action by an uninterrupted chain of women and men across different cultures, noting that "love has been considered the highest achievement of spirituality and faith... Love of one's neighbour, love of the other, love of the All-Other, and which is yet closer to us than we are to ourselves".

"We must turn away from the foolish and deadly caricatures of religions to immerse ourselves in the texts, the poetry, the testimonies of action and life, which irrigate their heart and spirit, and immerse ourselves even more in the ineffable and intimate experiences that the people of love distil around them, every day, yesterday as today", he opined.

On the programme for this event, organised by the Fez Festival of Sufi Culture association, are round tables and conferences focusing on topics related to "the Religion of Love", "Persian mystical poetry" and "the message of Love, Rumi and the legacy of Persian Music".