Balance and Legacy: When Business Meets the Invisible
March 2025. A month where the cycle of financial assessments aligns perfectly with that of Ramadan, as if the universe itself had orchestrated the fusion of our economic and spiritual rituals into a single breath. On one side, our businesses calculate, evaluate, and project. On the other, our souls recentre, our families gather, and our societies—both in the economic and human sense—reform around sharing and transmission. And in this simultaneity, one question arises: what are we truly measuring? The weight of our assets or the reach of our legacy?
Society. This word alone carries a fascinating duality. It evokes both enterprise and human community. One cannot exist without the other. One builds, invests, and structures; the other connects, perpetuates, and gives meaning. When we take stock, are we not assessing both? The balance of assets and liabilities, but also the balance of values and transmissions?
Last night, during the solidarity iftar organized by Dar Tifl at the Oberoi Hotel, which opened its prestigious venue for the second consecutive year, we had the deeply moving surprise of witnessing a tribute to Haj El Baroudi and his family. A suspended moment where numbers and financial statements gave way to the essential: memory, the immaterial imprint of a man who mastered the art of blending success with transmission, enterprise with humanity. His legacy is not limited to assets or shares but unfolds as a fabric of commitment, generosity, and exemplarity. He demonstrated that a society, in its noblest sense, is measured not just by its economic weight but by the warmth it radiates and the values it upholds.
A business is not a cold and calculating entity. It is a living organism, a legacy in motion. It breathes through those who compose it; it thrives through the strength of its values and the depth of its connections. Success, beyond numbers, is measured by the light left along the way.
Mohamed Ouahi, a member of the Emerging Business Foundation and a PhD candidate, explores this fundamental question: how can we assess the intangible in today’s economy? In a world striving to quantify the unquantifiable, how do we incorporate immaterial capital—reputation, culture, collective memory—into a company’s balance sheet? A business stands like a tree: its roots delve deep into history and transmitted values, its trunk symbolizes financial and organizational solidity, and its foliage, vibrant and ever-changing, embodies its outreach and impact on society. A tree cannot grow without deep roots. A financial statement is incomplete if it fails to account for the immaterial imprint of a business.
Ibn Arabi whispers to us: “What is visible is the shadow of the invisible.” Yesterday, in the car, I explained to my daughter the meaning behind the whirling dervishes’ dance—how every part of our being, however infinitesimal, joins the dance of the universe to become one. Everything turns, everything gravitates, everything finds balance in a movement that transcends the individual. Business, too, is part of this great spiral of connections. Those who see only its structure, its figures, and its immediate results miss its essence. Those who perceive the invisible understand that every decision, every exchange, every gesture carries within it an intention, an energy that resonates far beyond the present.
Far from being a mere financial exercise, the balance sheet is a moment of humility and gratitude. Gratitude for those who paved the way before us, for the teams that keep the heart of our organizations beating, for the partners who inspire and challenge us. EBF, through its commitment and ecosystem, embodies this dynamic of sharing and learning.
We are but transmitters. What we build today already belongs to tomorrow. As we turn the pages of our financial statements, let us not forget that beyond the numbers, what truly remains is the invisible imprint we leave upon the world.
And in this moment where the invisible feels more tangible than ever, we express, on behalf of the entire EBF team, our deepest gratitude to the El Baroudi family for lending us Hamza—the friend, the accomplice, the president—who, day after day, instills in our work the spirit of Haj El Baroudi, may he rest in peace. May his legacy continue to light our path.
(This translation was generated using AI.)
