A lower rent makes an old shop attractive again. Its former partners discover that they remember its failure very differently.
01Read the Arabic story
إِعَادَةُ فَتْحِ الْمَحَلِّ الَّذِي أَغْلَقْنَاهُ
حِينَ وَضَعَتْ هُدَى مِفْتَاحَ مَحَلِّنَا الْقَدِيمِ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ، ظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهَا وَافَقَتْ عَلَى الْعَوْدَةِ. كُنَّا نَبِيعُ الدَّفَاتِرَ وَالْأَقْلَامَ، ثُمَّ أَغْلَقْنَا الْمَحَلَّ بَعْدَ سَنَتَيْنِ. أَخْبَرَنِي صَاحِبُ الْمَبْنَى أَنَّ الْإِيجَارَ أَصْبَحَ أَقَلَّ، فَاتَّصَلْتُ بِهُدَى بِحَمَاسٍ. قَالَتْ إِنَّهَا جَاءَتْ لِتَسْمَعَ، لَا لِتَعِدَ، وَطَلَبَتْ أَنْ نَفْتَحَ دَفْتَرَ حِسَابَاتِنَا الْقَدِيمَ قَبْلَ أَيِّ حَدِيثٍ عَنِ الِافْتِتَاحِ.
قُلْتُ إِنَّ الْإِيجَارَ الْمُرْتَفِعَ أَكَلَ أَرْبَاحَنَا. أَشَارَتْ هُدَى إِلَى صُنْدُوقٍ مِنَ الدَّفَاتِرِ لَمْ نَبِعْهُ، وَذَكَرَتْ أَنَّنِي اشْتَرَيْتُهُ دُونَ اسْتِشَارَتِهَا. كُنْتُ أُفَسِّرُ صَمْتَهَا بَعْدَ كُلِّ طَلَبٍ جَدِيدٍ عَلَى أَنَّهُ مُوَافَقَةٌ. أَمَّا هِيَ فَكَانَتْ تَصْمُتُ لِأَنَّهَا تَعِبَتْ مِنْ تَكْرَارِ اعْتِرَاضِهَا. سَأَلَتْنِي: «هَلْ انْخَفَضَ الْإِيجَارُ فَقَطْ، أَمْ تَغَيَّرَتْ طَرِيقَتُنَا أَيْضًا؟»
أَحْسَسْتُ أَنَّهَا تُحَمِّلُنِي الْخَسَارَةَ كُلَّهَا، فَذَكَرْتُ سَاعَاتِ الْعَمَلِ الَّتِي قَضَيْتُهَا وَحْدِي. لَمْ تُنْكِرْ تَعَبِي، لَكِنَّهَا ذَكَّرَتْنِي بِأَنَّهَا كَانَتْ تُرَاجِعُ الْحِسَابَاتِ فِي بَيْتِهَا مَسَاءً. كَتَبْنَا فِي صَفْحَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ عَمُودَيْنِ: مَا كَانَ يَرَاهُ الزَّبَائِنُ، وَمَا كَانَ يَحْدُثُ بَعْدَ إِغْلَاقِ الْبَابِ. لِأَوَّلِ مَرَّةٍ، رَأَيْتُ عَمَلَهَا بِجَانِبِ عَمَلِي، بَدَلًا مِنْ وَضْعِهِ فِي الْهَامِشِ.
اقْتَرَحْتُ أَنْ نَتَقَاسَمَ الْقَرَارَاتِ وَالْوَقْتَ بِوُضُوحٍ. قَالَتْ هُدَى إِنَّ ذَلِكَ كَانَ سَيُسَاعِدُنَا سَابِقًا، لَكِنَّ لَدَيْهَا الْآنَ عَمَلًا تُحِبُّهُ. لَمْ يَكُنِ الرُّجُوعُ إِلَى الْمَحَلِّ حُلْمَهَا الْوَحِيدَ كَمَا تَخَيَّلْتُ. سَأَلْتُهَا إِنْ كَانَتْ تَرْفُضُ الشَّرَاكَةَ، فَأَجَابَتْ أَنَّهَا تَرْفُضُ الْإِجَابَةَ السَّرِيعَةَ. كَانَ عَلَيَّ أَنْ أَسْمَعَ الْفَرْقَ، حَتَّى لَوْ ضَاعَ مِنِّي الْمَكَانُ بِسَبَبِ الِانْتِظَارِ.
عِنْدَمَا اتَّصَلَ صَاحِبُ الْمَبْنَى، أَخْبَرْتُهُ أَنَّنَا لَمْ نَتَّفِقْ بَعْدُ. قَالَ إِنَّهُ سَيَعْرِضُ الْمَحَلَّ عَلَى غَيْرِنَا، فَشَعَرْتُ بِخَيْبَةٍ حَقِيقِيَّةٍ. أَخَذَتْ هُدَى نُسْخَةً مِنَ الصَّفْحَةِ الْجَدِيدَةِ، وَتَرَكَتِ الْمِفْتَاحَ أَمَامِي. هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ، لَمْ أَعُدَّهُ وَعْدًا. وَضَعْتُهُ فِي الدُّرْجِ، ثُمَّ مَحَوْتُ مِنْ رِسَالَةٍ كُنْتُ أُعِدُّهَا لِأَصْدِقَائِنَا عِبَارَةَ «سَنَعُودُ قَرِيبًا»، وَتَرَكْتُ مَكَانَهَا فَارِغًا.
Show English translationHide English translation
When Huda put the key to our old shop on the table, I thought she had agreed to return. We had sold notebooks and pens, then closed the shop after two years. The building’s owner told me the rent was now lower, so I called Huda enthusiastically. She said she had come to listen, not to promise, and asked us to open our old accounts notebook before any talk of reopening.
I said the high rent had eaten our profits. Huda pointed to a box of notebooks we had not sold and mentioned that I had bought it without consulting her. I had interpreted her silence after every new order as agreement. She, however, had kept quiet because she was tired of repeating her objection. She asked me, “Has only the rent fallen, or has our way of working changed too?”
I felt she was making me responsible for the entire loss, so I mentioned the working hours I had spent alone. She did not deny my effort, but reminded me that she had checked the accounts at home in the evenings. On a fresh page, we wrote two columns: what customers could see, and what happened after the door closed. For the first time, I saw her work alongside mine, instead of putting it in the margin.
I suggested clearly sharing decisions and time. Huda said that would have helped us before, but she now had a job she loved. Returning to the shop was not her only dream, as I had imagined. I asked whether she was rejecting the partnership, and she replied that she was rejecting a quick answer. I had to hear the difference, even if waiting meant losing the premises.
When the building’s owner called, I told him we had not agreed yet. He said he would offer the shop to others, and I felt genuinely disappointed. Huda took a copy of the new page and left the key in front of me. This time, I did not count it as a promise. I put it in the drawer, then deleted “We will be back soon” from a message I was preparing for our friends, leaving that space blank.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْإِيجَارَ | the rent |
| اسْتِشَارَتِهَا | consulting her |
| تَكْرَارِ اعْتِرَاضِهَا | repeating her objection |
| الْخَسَارَةَ | the loss |
| تُرَاجِعُ الْحِسَابَاتِ | checks the accounts |
| عَمُودَيْنِ | two columns |
| فِي الْهَامِشِ | in the margin |
| نَتَقَاسَمَ الْقَرَارَاتِ | share decisions |
| بِخَيْبَةٍ | with disappointment |
| الدُّرْجِ | the drawer |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Use the Arabic text to distinguish facts, motives and supported inferences. Open the English support when needed.
What to remember
- Silence after repeated objections can be mistaken for agreement; compare each partner’s account.
- A lower rent changes one condition, while shared decisions and present priorities still need discussion.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lakinna and Lakin in Arabic: Two Patterns for But
لَكِنَّهَا ذَكَّرَتْنِي
See how lakinnaha introduces a correction to the narrator’s view of their workload.
Arabic Past-Tense Endings: I Wrote, You Wrote and We Wrote
كَتَبْنَا فِي صَفْحَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ
Compare the narrator’s singular action with what both partners write together.
