A neighbour’s meals and care make recovery easier. Once work resumes, an unannounced visit and a rearranged shelf make a grateful resident reconsider their arrangement.
01Read the Arabic story
قَوْلُ لَا لِجَارَةٍ مُسَاعِدَةٍ
حِينَ عُدْتُ إِلَى بَيْتِي بَعْدَ فَتْرَةٍ مِنَ الْمَرَضِ، كَانَتْ جَارَتِي سَعِيدَةُ تَحْمِلُ لِي الطَّعَامَ وَتَسْقِي نَبَاتَاتِي. أَعْطَيْتُهَا مِفْتَاحًا لِأَنَّ النُّهُوضَ لِفَتْحِ الْبَابِ كَانَ مُتْعِبًا. مَعَ تَحَسُّنِ صِحَّتِي، اسْتَعَدْتُ عَمَلِي مِنَ الْبَيْتِ، لَكِنَّ زِيَارَاتِهَا اسْتَمَرَّتْ بِالطَّرِيقَةِ نَفْسِهَا. كُنْتُ أَشْكُرُهَا كُلَّ مَرَّةٍ، وَأُؤَجِّلُ الْحَدِيثَ عَنِ الْمِفْتَاحِ حَتَّى لَا أَبْدُوَ نَاكِرًا لِلْجَمِيلِ.
ذَاتَ صَبَاحٍ، دَخَلَتْ وَأَنَا فِي اجْتِمَاعٍ عَبْرَ الْإِنْتَرْنِتِ. أَشَرْتُ إِلَى الشَّاشَةِ، فَخَفَضَتْ صَوْتَهَا وَبَدَأَتْ تُرَتِّبُ الرَّفَّ وَرَائِي. بَعْدَ خُرُوجِهَا، لَمْ أَجِدْ مِلَفَّ الْفَوَاتِيرِ فِي مَكَانِهِ. كَانَتْ قَدْ وَضَعَتْهُ فِي دُرْجٍ لِيَبْدُوَ الرَّفُّ أَجْمَلَ. لَمْ يَضِعْ شَيْءٌ، إِلَّا أَنَّنِي قَضَيْتُ عَشْرَ دَقَائِقَ أَبْحَثُ عَنْ وَرَقَةٍ يَنْتَظِرُهَا زَمِيلِي عَلَى الْهَاتِفِ.
دَعَوْتُهَا إِلَى الشَّايِ فِي الْمَسَاءِ، وَشَكَرْتُهَا عَلَى أَيَّامٍ لَمْ أَكُنْ أَسْتَطِيعُ فِيهَا خِدْمَةَ نَفْسِي. ثُمَّ قُلْتُ إِنَّنِي أَحْتَاجُ الْآنَ إِلَى مَعْرِفَةِ مَوْعِدِ الزِّيَارَةِ مُسْبَقًا، وَإِلَى تَرْتِيبِ أَوْرَاقِي بِنَفْسِي. نَظَرَتْ إِلَى الْكُوبِ وَقَالَتْ: «ظَنَنْتُ أَنَّنِي أُخَفِّفُ عَنْكَ». كِدْتُ أَتَرَاجَعُ عَنْ طَلَبِي، لَكِنِّي شَرَحْتُ مَا حَدَثَ لِلْفَوَاتِيرِ دُونَ اتِّهَامِهَا بِسُوءِ النِّيَّةِ.
طَلَبْتُ الْمِفْتَاحَ، وَاقْتَرَحْتُ زِيَارَةً لِلشَّايِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ. سَأَلَتْنِي إِنْ كُنْتُ لَا أَثِقُ بِهَا، فَقُلْتُ إِنَّ ثِقَتِي لَمْ تَتَغَيَّرْ، وَإِنَّ حَاجَتِي إِلَى الْمُسَاعَدَةِ هِيَ الَّتِي تَغَيَّرَتْ. وَضَعَتِ الْمِفْتَاحَ فِي ظَرْفٍ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ، وَلَمْ تُجِبْ عَنِ الدَّعْوَةِ. بَقِيَ بَيْنَنَا صَمْتٌ ثَقِيلٌ، وَأَدْرَكْتُ أَنَّ اخْتِيَارَ كَلِمَاتٍ مُهَذَّبَةٍ لَا يَضْمَنُ غِيَابَ الْأَلَمِ.
مَرَّتْ أَيَّامٌ دُونَ زِيَارَةٍ. كُنْتُ أَسْمَعُ خُطُوَاتِهَا فِي الْمَمَرِّ، فَأَتَرَدَّدُ قَبْلَ فَتْحِ الْبَابِ. صَبَاحَ الْجُمُعَةِ، أَرْسَلَتْ رِسَالَةً تَسْأَلُ فِيهَا عَنِ السَّاعَةِ الْمُنَاسِبَةِ. حَدَّدْتُ الْخَامِسَةَ وَوَضَعْتُ كُوبَيْنِ عَلَى الصِّينِيَّةِ. لَمْ أَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ الْحَدِيثُ سَيَعُودُ سَهْلًا كَمَا كَانَ، لَكِنَّنِي تَرَكْتُ مَكَانًا لِكَعْكِهَا بِجَانِبِ الشَّايِ، وَأَعَدْتُ ظَرْفَ الْمِفْتَاحِ إِلَى دُرْجِي.
Show English translationHide English translation
When I returned home after a period of illness, my neighbour Saida brought me food and watered my plants. I gave her a key because getting up to open the door was tiring. As my health improved, I resumed working from home, but her visits continued in the same way. I thanked her every time and postponed talking about the key so that I would not seem ungrateful.
One morning, she came in while I was in an online meeting. I pointed to the screen, so she lowered her voice and began tidying the shelf behind me. After she left, I could not find the invoice file in its usual place. She had put it in a drawer to make the shelf look nicer. Nothing was lost, but I spent ten minutes searching for a paper my colleague was waiting for on the phone.
I invited her for tea that evening and thanked her for the days when I had been unable to look after myself. Then I said that I now needed to know about visits in advance and to arrange my papers myself. She looked at her cup and said, “I thought I was making things easier for you.” I almost withdrew my request, but explained what had happened to the invoices without accusing her of bad intentions.
I asked for the key and suggested a visit for tea on Friday. She asked whether I did not trust her. I said that my trust had not changed; my need for help had. She placed the key in an envelope on the table and did not answer the invitation. A heavy silence remained between us, and I realised that choosing polite words did not guarantee an absence of hurt.
Days passed without a visit. I would hear her footsteps in the corridor and hesitate before opening the door. On Friday morning, she sent a message asking what time would suit me. I chose five o’clock and put two cups on the tray. I did not know whether conversation would become as easy as before, but I left space for her cakes beside the tea and put the envelope containing the key back in my drawer.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| اسْتَعَدْتُ | I resumed |
| وَأُؤَجِّلُ | and I postpone |
| نَاكِرًا لِلْجَمِيلِ | ungrateful |
| فَخَفَضَتْ صَوْتَهَا | so she lowered her voice |
| مِلَفَّ الْفَوَاتِيرِ | the invoice file |
| مُسْبَقًا | in advance |
| أُخَفِّفُ عَنْكَ | I ease your burden |
| بِسُوءِ النِّيَّةِ | of bad intentions |
| صَمْتٌ ثَقِيلٌ | a heavy silence |
| فَأَتَرَدَّدُ | so I hesitate |
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
- Gratitude for earlier help does not mean that the same arrangement continues to suit a person’s needs.
- The final preparations suggest welcome with clearer limits; the story leaves the ease of the next conversation uncertain.
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 أَجِدْ مِلَفَّ الْفَوَاتِيرِ فِي مَكَانِهِ
Use lam with the jussive to follow the file’s absence from its expected place.
Lakinna and Lakin in Arabic: Two Patterns for But
لَكِنَّ زِيَارَاتِهَا اسْتَمَرَّتْ بِالطَّرِيقَةِ نَفْسِهَا
Notice how lakinna contrasts the narrator’s recovery with visits that continue unchanged.
