Bashir finds extra money when he closes the till. A receipt reveals his mistake, but returning the money means finding a customer who has not noticed the loss.
01Read the Arabic story
إِعَادَةُ نُقُودٍ لَمْ يُلَاحِظْ أَحَدٌ نُقْصَانَهَا
كَانَ بَشِيرٌ يَعْمَلُ فِي مَحَلٍّ لِبَيْعِ الْأَدَوَاتِ الْمَدْرَسِيَّةِ. قَبْلَ الْإِغْلَاقِ، جَمَعَ الْإِيصَالَاتِ وَعَدَّ النُّقُودَ فِي الصُّنْدُوقِ. وَجَدَ عِشْرِينَ رِيَالًا زَائِدًا عَنِ الْمَبْلَغِ الْمُتَوَقَّعِ. أَعَادَ الْعَدَّ بِبُطْءٍ، لَكِنَّ النَّتِيجَةَ لَمْ تَتَغَيَّرْ. لَمْ يَتَّصِلْ أَيُّ زَبُونٍ لِيَسْأَلَ عَنْ نُقُودٍ نَاقِصَةٍ، وَكَانَ صَاحِبُ الْمَحَلِّ قَدْ غَادَرَ مُنْذُ سَاعَةٍ.
رَاجَعَ بَشِيرٌ نُسَخَ الْإِيصَالَاتِ الْمَكْتُوبَةِ بِخَطِّهِ حَتَّى وَصَلَ إِلَى إِيصَالِ زَبُونٍ اشْتَرَى أَوْرَاقًا وَأَقْلَامًا. كَانَ ثَمَنُ طَلَبِهِ سِتِّينَ رِيَالًا، وَقَدْ دَفَعَ مِئَةَ رِيَالٍ. لَكِنَّ بَشِيرًا كَتَبَ أَنَّهُ أَعَادَ لَهُ عِشْرِينَ فَقَطْ. تَذَكَّرَ أَنَّ الْهَاتِفَ رَنَّ أَثْنَاءَ الْحِسَابِ. وَضَعَ الْإِيصَالَ أَمَامَهُ وَكَتَبَ الْحِسَابَ الصَّحِيحَ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ صَغِيرَةٍ.
كَانَ يَسْتَطِيعُ إِغْلَاقَ الصُّنْدُوقِ وَالْعَوْدَةَ إِلَى بَيْتِهِ، فَلَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ يَنْتَظِرُ شَرْحًا. لَكِنَّهُ وَضَعَ الْعِشْرِينَ رِيَالًا فِي ظَرْفٍ وَكَتَبَ عَلَيْهِ رَقْمَ الْإِيصَالِ. ثُمَّ تَذَكَّرَ أَنَّ الزَّبُونَ طَلَبَ دَفَاتِرَ غَيْرَ مَوْجُودَةٍ. بَحَثَ فِي سِجِلِّ الطَّلَبَاتِ، فَوَجَدَ اسْمَهُ وَرَقْمَ هَاتِفِهِ. طَابَقَ رَقْمَ الطَّلَبِ مَعَ الْإِيصَالِ لِيَتَأَكَّدَ.
اِتَّصَلَ بَشِيرٌ بِالزَّبُونِ وَشَرَحَ خَطَأَهُ دُونَ أَنْ يُلْقِيَ اللَّوْمَ عَلَى رَنِينِ الْهَاتِفِ. قَالَ الرَّجُلُ: «لَمْ أُرَاجِعِ الْبَاقِيَ، لِأَنَّنِي كُنْتُ مُسْتَعْجِلًا». عَرَضَ بَشِيرٌ أَنْ يُعِيدَ النُّقُودَ فِي الصَّبَاحِ، فَوَافَقَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى الْحُضُورِ. بَعْدَ الْمُكَالَمَةِ، أَرْسَلَ بَشِيرٌ لِصَاحِبِ الْمَحَلِّ رِسَالَةً تُوَضِّحُ سَبَبَ وُجُودِ الظَّرْفِ وَمَوْعِدَ تَسْلِيمِهِ.
فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي، أَخَذَ الزَّبُونُ نُقُودَهُ وَشَكَرَ بَشِيرًا. ثُمَّ تَرَكَ عِنْدَهُ قَائِمَةً جَدِيدَةً لِمُسْتَلْزَمَاتِ أَوْلَادِهِ وَقَالَ: «اِخْتَرْ لَنَا دَفَاتِرَ جَيِّدَةً بِسِعْرٍ مُنَاسِبٍ». وَضَعَ بَشِيرٌ الْقَائِمَةَ قُرْبَ الصُّنْدُوقِ. وَعِنْدَمَا رَنَّ الْهَاتِفُ أَثْنَاءَ بَيْعٍ جَدِيدٍ، أَنْهَى الْحِسَابَ وَعَدَّ الْبَاقِيَ أَمَامَ الزَّبُونِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرُدَّ عَلَى الْمُكَالَمَةِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Bashir worked in a shop selling school supplies. Before closing, he gathered the receipts and counted the money in the till. He found twenty riyals more than expected. He counted again slowly, but the result did not change. No customer had called to ask about missing money, and the shop owner had left an hour earlier.
Bashir checked the copies of the receipts he had written by hand until he reached one for a customer who had bought paper and pens. His order had cost sixty riyals, and he had paid one hundred. But Bashir had written that he had returned only twenty. He remembered the telephone ringing during the calculation. He put the receipt in front of him and wrote the correct calculation on a small piece of paper.
He could have closed the till and gone home, since nobody was waiting for an explanation. But he put the twenty riyals in an envelope and wrote the receipt number on it. Then he remembered that the customer had ordered notebooks that were out of stock. He searched the order register and found his name and telephone number. He matched the order number to the receipt to make sure.
Bashir called the customer and explained his mistake without blaming the ringing telephone. The man said, “I did not check the change because I was in a hurry.” Bashir offered to return the money in the morning, and the man agreed to come. After the call, Bashir sent the shop owner a message explaining why the envelope was there and when it would be handed over.
The next day, the customer collected his money and thanked Bashir. Then he left him a new list of supplies for his children and said, “Choose good notebooks for us at a reasonable price.” Bashir placed the list near the till. When the telephone rang during another sale, he finished the calculation and counted the change in front of the customer before answering the call.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْإِيصَالَاتِ | the receipts |
| الْمَبْلَغِ الْمُتَوَقَّعِ | the expected amount |
| ثَمَنُ طَلَبِهِ | the price of his order |
| أَثْنَاءَ الْحِسَابِ | during the calculation |
| فِي ظَرْفٍ | in an envelope |
| سِجِلِّ الطَّلَبَاتِ | the order register |
| يُلْقِيَ اللَّوْمَ | place the blame |
| الْبَاقِيَ | the change |
| مُسْتَعْجِلًا | in a hurry |
| بِسِعْرٍ مُنَاسِبٍ | at a reasonable price |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Look back at the Arabic story when you need a clue. Open the English support if you need help understanding a question.
What to remember
- Follow the receipt figures: sixty riyals due and one hundred paid require forty in change; returning only twenty leaves twenty owed to the customer.
- The customer’s next order lets you infer trust from an action, while Bashir’s final sale shows a practical response to his mistake.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يَتَّصِلْ أَيُّ زَبُونٍ
Notice how lam places an action that did not happen in the past, even with an imperfect verb.
Because in Arabic: Give a Reason with Lianna
لِأَنَّنِي كُنْتُ مُسْتَعْجِلًا
Connect the customer’s failure to check his change with the reason he gives.
