A long-standing team holds the most useful training hours. Salma opens a drawer of unanswered requests and finds that dividing hours equally may still leave people out.
01Read the Arabic story
لِمَنْ أَفْضَلُ سَاعَاتِ الصَّالَةِ؟
عِنْدَمَا تَوَلَّتْ سَلْمَى تَنْظِيمَ حَجْزِ الصَّالَةِ الرِّيَاضِيَّةِ فِي الْحَيِّ، وَجَدَتْ جَدْوَلًا تَكَرَّرَ خَمْسَ سَنَوَاتٍ. كَانَ الْفَرِيقُ الْأَقْدَمُ يَتَدَرَّبُ كُلَّ مَسَاءٍ بَيْنَ السَّابِعَةِ وَالتَّاسِعَةِ. أَمَّا الْمُبْتَدِئُونَ فَكَانُوا يَحْضُرُونَ بَعْدَ الظُّهْرِ، حِينَ يَصْعُبُ عَلَى بَعْضِ الْآبَاءِ إِيصَالُ أَطْفَالِهِمْ. بَدَا الْجَدْوَلُ مُسْتَقِرًّا، لَكِنَّ طَلَبَاتٍ جَدِيدَةً كَانَتْ تَنْتَظِرُ فِي دُرْجٍ مُغْلَقٍ مُنْذُ شُهُورٍ.
فَتَحَتْ سَلْمَى الدُّرْجَ وَاتَّصَلَتْ بِأَصْحَابِ الطَّلَبَاتِ. قَالَ رَجُلٌ يَعْمَلُ فِي مَخْبَزٍ إِنَّهُ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ الْوُصُولَ قَبْلَ الثَّامِنَةِ. وَقَالَتْ أُمٌّ إِنَّ ابْنَتَهَا تَرَكَتِ التَّدْرِيبَ لِأَنَّ مَوْعِدَهُ يَسْبِقُ عَوْدَةَ الْأُمِّ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ. لَمْ يَطْلُبْ أَيٌّ مِنْهُمَا إِخْرَاجَ الْفَرِيقِ الْقَدِيمِ؛ كَانَا يُرِيدَانِ مَوْعِدًا يُمْكِنُهُمَا اسْتِخْدَامُهُ فِعْلًا، وَلَوْ مَرَّةً أَوْ مَرَّتَيْنِ أُسْبُوعِيًّا.
عَرَضَتْ سَلْمَى تَقْسِيمَ السَّاعَاتِ بِالتَّسَاوِي بَيْنَ الْمَجْمُوعَاتِ. اعْتَرَضَ قَائِدُ الْفَرِيقِ، فَقَدْ بَنَى أَعْضَاؤُهُ مَوَاعِيدَهُمْ حَوْلَ الْجَدْوَلِ الْقَدِيمِ، وَدَفَعُوا ثَمَنَ إِصْلَاحِ الشِّبَاكِ. سَأَلَهَا أَيْضًا عَنْ فَائِدَةِ سَاعَةٍ مُبَكِّرَةٍ لِلْعَامِلِ فِي الْمَخْبَزِ. أَدْرَكَتْ أَنَّ تَسَاوِيَ الْأَعْدَادِ لَا يَضْمَنُ تَسَاوِيَ الْفُرَصِ، وَأَنَّ اعْتِرَاضَهُ، رَغْمَ مَصْلَحَتِهِ فِيهِ، يَتَضَمَّنُ سُؤَالًا يَسْتَحِقُّ الْجَوَابَ.
أَعَدَّتْ جَدْوَلًا يَتْرُكُ لِلْفَرِيقِ مَسَاءَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ. وَخَصَّصَتْ بَدَايَةَ أَمْسِيَاتٍ أُخْرَى لِلْمُبْتَدِئِينَ، وَسَاعَاتِهَا الْمُتَأَخِّرَةَ لِمَنْ يَنْتَهِي عَمَلُهُ مُتَأَخِّرًا. نَشَرَتْ أَسْبَابَ التَّوْزِيعِ، وَطَلَبَتْ تَسْجِيلَ الْحُضُورِ لِمُرَاجَعَةِ الِاسْتِخْدَامِ بَعْدَ شَهْرٍ. رَفَضَ لَاعِبَانِ الْمَوَاعِيدَ الْجَدِيدَةَ وَانْسَحَبَا. لَمْ تَصِفْ سَلْمَى قَرَارَهُمَا بِالْأَنَانِيَّةِ؛ فَقَدْ خَسِرَا تَرْتِيبًا اعْتَمَدَا عَلَيْهِ طَوِيلًا، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُنْصِفًا لِلْآخَرِينَ.
خِلَالَ الْأُسْبُوعِ الْأَوَّلِ، وَصَلَتِ الْبِنْتُ مَعَ أُمِّهَا، وَبَقِيَتْ مَقَاعِدُ الْفَرِيقِ الْقَدِيمِ أَقَلَّ امْتِلَاءً مِنَ الْمُعْتَادِ. تَوَقَّفَ قَائِدُهُ أَمَامَ الْجَدْوَلِ وَسَأَلَ سَلْمَى إِنْ كَانَتِ السَّاعَاتُ غَيْرُ الْمُسْتَخْدَمَةِ سَتُعْرَضُ لِلْحَجْزِ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى. أَجَابَتْ بِالْمُوَافَقَةِ، شَرْطَ إِعْلَانِهَا لِلْجَمِيعِ. دَوَّنَ الرَّقْمَ الْمُخَصَّصَ لِلْحَجْزِ، ثُمَّ دَخَلَ الصَّالَةَ دُونَ أَنْ يُكَرِّرَ مَطْلَبَهُ بِإِعَادَةِ الْجَدْوَلِ الْقَدِيمِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
When Salma took over bookings for the neighbourhood sports hall, she found a timetable that had repeated for five years. The longest-established team trained every evening between seven and nine. Beginners attended in the afternoon, when some parents found it difficult to bring their children. The timetable looked stable, but new requests had been waiting in a closed drawer for months.
Salma opened the drawer and contacted the applicants. A man who worked in a bakery said he could not arrive before eight. A mother said her daughter had stopped training because it took place before the mother returned from work. Neither asked for the old team to be removed; they wanted a slot they could actually use, even once or twice a week.
Salma proposed dividing the hours equally between the groups. The team captain objected: his members had built their schedules around the old timetable and paid to repair the nets. He also asked what use an early hour would be to the bakery worker. She realised that equal numbers did not guarantee equal opportunities, and that his objection, despite his own interest in it, contained a question that deserved an answer.
She prepared a timetable leaving the team two full evenings. She allocated the start of other evenings to beginners and their later hours to people who finished work late. She published the reasons for the allocation and requested attendance records to review usage after a month. Two players rejected the new times and withdrew. Salma did not call their decision selfish: they had lost an arrangement they had relied on for a long time, even if it had been unfair to others.
During the first week, the girl arrived with her mother, and the old team’s benches were less full than usual. Its captain stopped at the timetable and asked Salma whether unused hours would be offered for booking again. She agreed, provided they were announced to everyone. He wrote down the booking number, then entered the hall without repeating his demand to restore the old timetable.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| حَجْزِ | the booking of |
| الْمُبْتَدِئُونَ | the beginners |
| إِيصَالُ | bringing; getting someone somewhere |
| بِالتَّسَاوِي | equally |
| الشِّبَاكِ | the nets |
| الْفُرَصِ | the opportunities |
| التَّوْزِيعِ | the allocation |
| وَانْسَحَبَا | and the two withdrew |
| مُنْصِفًا | fair |
| غَيْرُ الْمُسْتَخْدَمَةِ | unused |
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
- Equal hours are not equally useful when work and family schedules limit who can attend.
- The revised timetable broadens access while disrupting arrangements that existing players had relied on.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Because in Arabic: Give a Reason with Lianna
لِأَنَّ مَوْعِدَهُ يَسْبِقُ عَوْدَةَ الْأُمِّ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ
Read the reason clause that explains why a learner stopped attending.
Amma and Fa in Arabic: As For This Topic
أَمَّا الْمُبْتَدِئُونَ فَكَانُوا يَحْضُرُونَ بَعْدَ الظُّهْرِ
Follow amma and fa as the narrative shifts from the established team to beginners.
