A writer’s welcoming phrase offers more than residents have agreed to give. A shared room and a bus time turn the phrase into work.
01Read the Arabic story
تَرْحِيبٌ فِي قَرْيَةٍ كُتِبَ لِلزُّوَّارِ
طَلَبَ مِنِّي مَجْلِسُ الْقَرْيَةِ أَنْ أَكْتُبَ تَرْحِيبًا لِلزُّوَّارِ عَلَى لَوْحَةٍ عِنْدَ الْمَدْخَلِ. بَدَأْتُ بِجُمْلَةٍ عَنْ قَرْيَةٍ تَفْتَحُ بُيُوتَهَا لِكُلِّ قَادِمٍ. أَعْجَبَنِي أَنَّ الْكَلَامَ يَبْدُو قَدِيمًا وَسَهْلَ الْحِفْظِ، وَكَانَتْ تَحْتَهُ صُورَةُ بَابٍ خَشَبِيٍّ. لَمْ أَكُنْ قَدْ سَأَلْتُ أَحَدًا مَنْ سَيَفْتَحُ هَذَا الْبَابَ حِينَ يَصِلُ زَائِرٌ فِي وَقْتِ الْعَمَلِ.
قَرَأَ حَسَنٌ الْمَسَوَّدَةَ، وَقَالَ إِنَّ الْبَابَ مَفْتُوحٌ فِي بَيْتِهِ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ حِينَ يَكُونُ مَوْجُودًا. طَلَبَ أَنْ أُضِيفَ الْوَقْتَ، فَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ يُفْسِدُ إِيقَاعَ التَّرْحِيبِ. وَقَالَتْ سَلْمَى إِنَّ بَابَهَا لَا يَصْلُحُ مَعْلَمًا لِلزِّيَارَةِ؛ إِنَّهُ بَابُ بَيْتِهَا. لَمْ يَقُولَا إِنَّ الزُّوَّارَ غَيْرُ مَرْغُوبٍ فِيهِمْ. كَانَا يَسْأَلَانِ مَنْ يَمْلِكُ الْوَعْدَ الَّذِي أَكْتُبُهُ بِاسْمِهِمَا.
فِي الْمَجْلِسِ، اقْتَرَحَ مُعَلِّمٌ فَتْحَ الْغُرْفَةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ بِجَانِبِ الْمَكْتَبَةِ لِاسْتِقْبَالِ الزُّوَّارِ سَاعَتَيْنِ كُلَّ سَبْتٍ. وَافَقَ حَسَنٌ عَلَى الْجُلُوسِ هُنَاكَ، وَاقْتَرَحَتْ سَلْمَى خَرِيطَةً لِلْمَمَرَّاتِ. لَكِنَّ الْغُرْفَةَ كَانَتْ تَحْتَاجُ إِلَى تَنْظِيفٍ، وَكَانَ الْمِفْتَاحُ عِنْدَ شَخْصٍ لَا يَحْضُرُ كُلَّ أُسْبُوعٍ. صَارَ التَّرْحِيبُ أَقَلَّ سُهُولَةً عَلَى الْوَرَقِ، وَأَكْثَرَ حَاجَةً إِلَى أَسْمَاءٍ وَمَوَاعِيدَ يُمْكِنُ الِاعْتِمَادُ عَلَيْهَا.
كَتَبْنَا أَوْقَاتَ الِاسْتِقْبَالِ، وَتَرَكْنَا سَطْرًا لِلتَّغْيِيرِ حِينَ يَغِيبُ أَحَدٌ. حَذَفْتُ الْوَعْدَ بِفَتْحِ كُلِّ الْبُيُوتِ، وَأَبْقَيْتُ عِبَارَةَ التَّرْحِيبِ. طَلَبَ حَسَنٌ صُورَةً لِلْغُرْفَةِ بَدَلًا مِنَ الْبَابِ الَّذِي أَحْبَبْتُهُ. أَضَفْنَا مَوْعِدَيِ الْحَافِلَةِ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ وَمِنْهَا، فَقَالَ عُضْوٌ إِنَّ اللَّوْحَةَ صَارَتْ عَادِيَّةً. لَمْ أَكُنْ مُتَأَكِّدَةً مِنْ جَمَالِهَا، لَكِنَّنِي كُنْتُ أَعْرِفُ مَنْ سَيُجِيبُ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ الْأَوَّلِ.
عِنْدَ تَعْلِيقِ اللَّوْحَةِ، وَقَفَتْ سَلْمَى لِتَقْرَأَ مَوْعِدَ الْحَافِلَةِ. سَأَلَهَا حَسَنٌ إِنْ كَانَتْ سَتَزُورُ الْغُرْفَةَ مِثْلَ الزُّوَّارِ، فَقَالَتْ إِنَّهَا تَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْعَوْدَةِ مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ فِي الْوَقْتِ نَفْسِهِ. بَعْدَ أَيَّامٍ، تَغَيَّرَ مَوْعِدُ الِاسْتِقْبَالِ، فَجِئْتُ لِتَبْدِيلِ السَّطْرِ. لَمْ تَبْقَ اللَّوْحَةُ صُورَةً ثَابِتَةً لِلْقَرْيَةِ؛ صَارَتْ شَيْئًا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى عَوْدَتِنَا كَيْ يَظَلَّ صَحِيحًا.
Show English translationHide English translation
The village council asked me to write a welcome for visitors on a board at the entrance. I began with a sentence about a village that opened its homes to every arrival. I liked how old and easy to memorise it sounded, with a photograph of a wooden door beneath it. I had not asked anyone who would open that door when a visitor arrived during working hours.
Hasan read the draft and said the door of his house was open on Saturdays when he was there. He asked me to add the time, and I thought he was spoiling the welcome’s rhythm. Salma said her door was not suitable as a visitor attraction: it was her front door. Neither said visitors were unwelcome. They were asking who owned the promise I was writing in their names.
At the council, a teacher proposed opening the old room beside the library for two hours every Saturday to receive visitors. Hasan agreed to sit there, and Salma proposed a map of the paths. But the room needed cleaning, and the key was with someone who did not attend every week. The welcome became less easy on paper and more dependent on names and times people could rely on.
We wrote the reception hours and left a line to change when someone was absent. I deleted the promise to open every house and kept the words of welcome. Hasan requested a photograph of the room instead of the door I had liked. We added the bus times to and from the city, and a member said the board had become ordinary. I was unsure of its beauty, but I knew who would answer the first question.
When the board was put up, Salma stopped to read the bus time. Hasan asked whether she would visit the room like the visitors. She said she needed to return from the city at the same time. A few days later the reception time changed, and I came to replace the line. The board was no longer a fixed image of the village; it had become something that needed us to return if it was to remain accurate.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْمَسَوَّدَةَ | the draft |
| إِيقَاعَ | the rhythm of |
| مَعْلَمًا | a visitor attraction; landmark |
| الْوَعْدَ | the promise |
| لِاسْتِقْبَالِ | to receive |
| وَمَوَاعِيدَ | and times; appointments |
| الِاعْتِمَادُ | reliance |
| لِتَبْدِيلِ | to replace |
| عَادِيَّةً | ordinary |
| صَحِيحًا | accurate; correct |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Follow the changing perspectives and distinguish what the text shows from what its characters assume.
What to remember
- A welcome in a collective voice needs an agreed place, time and person to make it possible.
- Useful information can serve residents and visitors while requiring continued updates.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Inna in Arabic: Emphasis and Noun Endings
إِنَّ الْبَابَ مَفْتُوحٌ
Identify the accusative door and nominative adjective in Hasan’s description of his welcome.
Lakinna and Lakin in Arabic: Two Patterns for But
لَكِنَّ الْغُرْفَةَ كَانَتْ تَحْتَاجُ إِلَى تَنْظِيفٍ
Use lakinna to add the practical qualification that the proposed room needs cleaning.
