One grant must serve either a trusted reading club or a new mobile library. A committee member weighs proven results against people the existing programme cannot reach.
01Read the Arabic story
مَنْ يَسْتَحِقُّ الْمِنْحَةَ الْأَخِيرَةَ؟
بَقِيَتْ لَدَى لَجْنَتِنَا مِنْحَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ، وَأَمَامَنَا مَلَفَّانِ يَسْتَحِقَّانِ النَّظَرَ. طَلَبَ نَادِي الْقِرَاءَةِ تَمْوِيلًا لِمُوَاصَلَةِ لِقَاءَاتِهِ الَّتِي حَضَرَهَا عَشَرَاتٌ خِلَالَ الْعَامِ. وَاقْتَرَحَ فَرِيقٌ جَدِيدٌ مَكْتَبَةً مُتَنَقِّلَةً تَزُورُ مَسَاءً عُمَّالًا تَمْنَعُهُمْ مَوَاعِيدُ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ حُضُورِ تِلْكَ اللِّقَاءَاتِ. كُنْتُ أَعْرِفُ مُدِيرَ النَّادِي، وَقَدْ شَجَّعَنِي قَدِيمًا عَلَى الْقِرَاءَةِ أَمَامَ الْجُمْهُورِ.
قَالَ زَمِيلِي إِنَّ الْمَشْرُوعَ الْقَدِيمَ أَثْبَتَ نَجَاحَهُ، بَيْنَمَا لَمْ يُنَظِّمِ الْفَرِيقُ الْجَدِيدُ نَشَاطًا مُمَاثِلًا. وَافَقْتُهُ عَلَى أَهَمِّيَّةِ الْخِبْرَةِ، لَكِنَّ الْأَرْقَامَ لَا تَصِفُ مَنْ لَمْ يَجِدُوا فُرْصَةً لِلْحُضُورِ أَصْلًا. سَأَلَتْ رَئِيسَةُ اللَّجْنَةِ عَنْ تَقْسِيمِ الْمَبْلَغِ، فَتَبَيَّنَ أَنَّ نِصْفَهُ لَا يَكْفِي لِاسْتِئْجَارِ الْحَافِلَةِ وَلَا لِتَغْطِيَةِ إِيجَارِ قَاعَةِ النَّادِي.
اتَّصَلْنَا بِالْفَرِيقِ لِنَفْهَمَ خُطَّتَهُ. اعْتَرَفَتْ مُنَسِّقَتُهُ بِأَنَّ عَدَدَ الْمُشَارِكِينَ غَيْرُ مَضْمُونٍ، وَعَرَضَتْ رَسَائِلَ مِنْ عُمَّالٍ يَطْلُبُونَ مَوْعِدًا مُنَاسِبًا. لَمْ تَعِدْنَا بِنَجَاحٍ سَرِيعٍ. أَمَّا مُدِيرُ النَّادِي فَأَوْضَحَ أَنَّهُ سَيُوَقِفُ لِقَاءَاتِ شَهْرٍ إِذَا لَمْ يَحْصُلْ عَلَى الْمِنْحَةِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ أَيٌّ مِنَ الْخِيَارَيْنِ بِلَا خَسَارَةٍ وَاضِحَةٍ لِأَشْخَاصٍ حَقِيقِيِّينَ.
اقْتَرَحْتُ تَمْوِيلَ الْمَكْتَبَةِ لِفَتْرَةٍ تَجْرِيبِيَّةٍ، مَعَ تَقْرِيرٍ عَنِ الْحُضُورِ وَالنَّفَقَاتِ قَبْلَ أَيِّ دَعْمٍ لَاحِقٍ. مَرَّ الِاقْتِرَاحُ بِأَغْلَبِيَّةٍ ضَيِّقَةٍ. طَلَبَ زَمِيلِي تَسْجِيلَ اعْتِرَاضِهِ، فَأَبْقَيْتُ أَسْبَابَهُ كَامِلَةً فِي الْمَحْضَرِ. وَحِينَ هَاتَفْتُ مُدِيرَ النَّادِي، اسْتَمَعَ بِهُدُوءٍ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَنِي عَمَّا سَنَقُولُهُ لِقُرَّائِهِ. لَمْ أَجِدْ عِبَارَةً تَجْعَلُ انْتِظَارَهُمْ أَقَلَّ صُعُوبَةً.
بَعْدَ الِاجْتِمَاعِ، أَرْسَلْتُ إِلَى الْفَرِيقِ شُرُوطَ الْمِنْحَةِ، وَأَرْفَقْتُ سُؤَالَ زَمِيلِي عَنْ تَكَالِيفِ النَّقْلِ إِذَا ارْتَفَعَتْ. وَطَلَبْتُ أَيْضًا أَنْ يَشْمَلَ التَّقْرِيرُ أَسْبَابَ غِيَابِ الْمُهْتَمِّينَ، لَا أَعْدَادَ الْحَاضِرِينَ فَقَطْ. ثُمَّ وَضَعْتُ مَوْعِدَ مُرَاجَعَةٍ فِي تَقْوِيمِي. بَدَا اخْتِيَارُنَا لِي مَعْقُولًا، لَكِنَّ الْحَافِلَةَ لَمْ تَنْطَلِقْ بَعْدُ. وَبَقِيَ مَلَفُّ النَّادِي عَلَى مَكْتَبِي، لَا فِي دُرْجِ الْمَلَفَّاتِ الَّتِي أَغْلَقْتُهَا وَنَسِيتُهَا، بَلْ إِلَى جَانِبِ الْمَلَفِّ الَّذِي وَافَقْنَا عَلَيْهِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Our committee had one grant left and two proposals worth considering. The reading club requested funding to continue meetings attended by dozens over the year. A new team proposed a mobile library that would visit workers in the evening, since their working hours prevented them from attending those meetings. I knew the club’s director: he had once encouraged me to read before an audience.
My colleague said the established project had proved successful, whereas the new team had never organised a similar activity. I agreed that experience mattered, but the figures did not describe people who had never had a chance to attend. The chair asked about dividing the money. It turned out that half would cover neither the bus rental nor the club’s room hire.
We called the team to understand its plan. Its coordinator admitted that participant numbers were not guaranteed and showed messages from workers requesting a suitable time. She did not promise quick success. The club’s director, meanwhile, explained that he would suspend a month’s meetings without the grant. Neither choice was without a clear loss for real people.
I proposed funding the library for a trial period, with an attendance and expense report before any further support. The proposal passed by a narrow majority. My colleague asked for his objection to be recorded, so I kept his reasons in full in the minutes. When I called the club’s director, he listened calmly, then asked what we would tell his readers. I found no phrase that would make their wait less difficult.
After the meeting, I sent the team the grant conditions, attaching my colleague’s question about transport costs if they rose. I also asked for the report to include why interested people were absent, not just attendance figures. Then I put a review date in my calendar. Our choice seemed reasonable to me, but the bus had not set off yet. The club’s folder stayed on my desk, not in the drawer of files I had closed and forgotten, but beside the proposal we had approved.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مِنْحَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ | one grant |
| تَمْوِيلًا | funding |
| مَكْتَبَةً مُتَنَقِّلَةً | a mobile library |
| أَثْبَتَ نَجَاحَهُ | proved successful |
| غَيْرُ مَضْمُونٍ | not guaranteed |
| لِفَتْرَةٍ تَجْرِيبِيَّةٍ | for a trial period |
| وَالنَّفَقَاتِ | and expenses |
| بِأَغْلَبِيَّةٍ ضَيِّقَةٍ | by a narrow majority |
| فِي الْمَحْضَرِ | in the meeting minutes |
| شُرُوطَ الْمِنْحَةِ | the grant conditions |
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
- Past success and access for overlooked readers support different choices; neither proposal removes the other’s value.
- The recorded objection and remaining folder show that winning a vote does not settle every concern.
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
لَكِنَّ الْحَافِلَةَ لَمْ تَنْطَلِقْ بَعْدُ
Follow how lakinna qualifies the narrator’s judgement with an unresolved fact.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ أَجِدْ عِبَارَةً
Notice lam with a jussive verb when the narrator cannot find a reassuring response.
