A novel sits at the centre of a sociable book club. A visitor’s question about one gift interrupts the easy agreement around the table.
01Read the Arabic story
نَادِي الْكِتَابِ الَّذِي تَجَنَّبَ الْكِتَابَ
كَانَتْ لِينَا تَضَعُ الرِّوَايَةَ فِي وَسَطِ الطَّاوِلَةِ قَبْلَ وُصُولِ أَعْضَاءِ نَادِي الْكِتَابِ. يَقْرَأُ أَحَدُهُمْ الْعُنْوَانَ، ثُمَّ يَنْتَقِلُ الْحَدِيثُ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ وَمَوَاعِيدِ الْحَافِلَاتِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ يَسْتَعْجِلُ الْعَوْدَةَ إِلَى الصَّفَحَاتِ. تَكْتُبُ لِينَا فِي دَفْتَرِهَا أَنَّ الْمُنَاقَشَةَ نَاجِحَةٌ؛ فَالْكَرَاسِيُّ مُمْتَلِئَةٌ، وَالشَّايُ لَا يَبْرُدُ، وَالْجَمِيعُ يَعُودُونَ فِي الْأُسْبُوعِ التَّالِي. وَهِيَ نَفْسُهَا تَنْتَظِرُ هَذِهِ الصُّحْبَةَ بَعْدَ الْعَمَلِ.
فِي إِحْدَى الْأُمْسِيَاتِ، فَتَحَتْ زَائِرَةٌ نُسْخَتَهَا عِنْدَ عَلَامَةٍ وَرَقِيَّةٍ. قَرَأَتْ فِقْرَةً يُرْسِلُ فِيهَا الْبَطَلُ هَدِيَّةً لِصَدِيقِهِ بَدَلًا مِنَ الِاعْتِذَارِ إِلَيْهِ. قَالَ عُضْوٌ إِنَّ هَذَا دَلِيلُ كَرَمٍ، فَسَأَلَتْ عَمَّا إِذَا كَانَ الصَّدِيقُ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْهَدِيَّةِ أَوْ إِلَى جَوَابٍ. رَفَعَ آخَرُ إِبْرِيقَ الشَّايِ وَسَأَلَ عَنْ رِحْلَةِ الْعُطْلَةِ، فَضَحِكَتْ لِينَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَعْرِفَ لِمَاذَا.
قَالَ الْعُضْوُ إِنَّهُ جَاءَ لِيَرْتَاحَ، لَا لِيُحَاسَبَ عَلَى هَدَايَاهُ. أَجَابَتْ لِينَا: «لَيْسَ السُّؤَالُ شَخْصِيًّا». لَكِنَّهَا تَذَكَّرَتْ أَنَّهَا وَصَفَتِ الْبَطَلَ بِالْكَرَمِ فِي اللِّقَاءِ السَّابِقِ، وَعَدَّتِ الصَّمْتَ مُوَافَقَةً. قَرَأَتِ الْجُمْلَةَ الَّتِي تَلَتِ الْفِقْرَةَ: يُعِيدُ الصَّدِيقُ الْهَدِيَّةَ دُونَ رِسَالَةٍ. لَمْ تُثْبِتِ الْجُمْلَةُ نِيَّةَ أَيٍّ مِنْهُمَا، وَلَكِنَّهَا أَفْسَدَتْ سُهُولَةَ الْحُكْمِ الَّذِي كَتَبَتْهُ فِي دَفْتَرِهَا.
اقْتَرَحَتْ أَنْ يَتَحَدَّثَ كُلُّ مَنْ يَرْغَبُ عَنْ هَاتَيْنِ الْفِقْرَتَيْنِ قَبْلَ أَخْبَارِ الْأُسْبُوعِ. لَمْ يَتَّفِقُوا عَلَى الْبَطَلِ، وَبَقِيَ الْعُضْوُ يَرَى الْهَدِيَّةَ مُحَاوَلَةً كَافِيَةً. أَمَّا الزَّائِرَةُ فَسَأَلَتْ عَنْ صَوْتِ الصَّدِيقِ الْغَائِبِ. كَتَبَتْ لِينَا الْمَوْقِفَيْنِ دُونَ أَنْ تَجْمَعَهُمَا فِي رَأْيٍ وَاحِدٍ. ثُمَّ سَمِعَتْ حَدِيثَ الْحَافِلَةِ كَمَا كَانَ يَحْدُثُ دَائِمًا، وَلَكِنَّ الرِّوَايَةَ مَفْتُوحَةٌ هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ.
عِنْدَ نِهَايَةِ اللِّقَاءِ، وَضَعَتِ الزَّائِرَةُ عَلَامَتَهَا فِي الصَّفْحَةِ التَّالِيَةِ وَسَأَلَتْ عَنِ الْمَوْعِدِ الْقَادِمِ. وَطَلَبَ الْعُضْوُ أَنْ يَبْقَى وَقْتٌ لِلشَّايِ. لَمْ تَشْطُبْ لِينَا وَصْفَ اللِّقَاءِ بِالنَّجَاحِ؛ أَضَافَتْ تَحْتَهُ رَقْمَ الصَّفْحَةِ. كَانَ الدَّفْتَرُ قَادِرًا عَلَى حَمْلِ الِاثْنَيْنِ، أَمَّا الْكَرَاسِيُّ الْمُمْتَلِئَةُ فَلَمْ تَعُدْ تُخْبِرُهَا وَحْدَهَا بِمَا دَارَ بَيْنَهَا.
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Lina used to put the novel in the middle of the table before the book club members arrived. Someone would read the title, then talk would turn to work and bus times. No one hurried back to the pages. Lina wrote in her notebook that the discussion was successful: the chairs were full, the tea never went cold, and everyone returned the following week. She herself looked forward to this company after work.
One evening, a visitor opened her copy at a paper bookmark. She read a paragraph in which the protagonist sent his friend a gift instead of apologising to him. A member called this evidence of generosity. She asked whether the friend needed the gift or an answer. Someone else lifted the teapot and asked about a holiday trip. Lina laughed before she knew why.
The member said he had come to relax, not to be held to account for his gifts. Lina replied, “The question is not personal.” But she remembered that she had described the protagonist as generous at the previous meeting and counted silence as agreement. She read the sentence following the paragraph: the friend returned the gift without a letter. It proved neither person’s intention, but it spoiled the ease of the judgement she had written in her notebook.
She proposed that anyone who wished could discuss those two paragraphs before the week’s news. They did not agree about the protagonist, and the member still saw the gift as a sufficient attempt. The visitor asked about the absent friend’s voice. Lina recorded the two positions without combining them into one opinion. Then she heard the bus conversation as it had always happened, but this time the novel was open.
At the end of the meeting, the visitor put her bookmark in the next page and asked about the next meeting. The member asked that there still be time for tea. Lina did not cross out the description of the meeting as successful; she added the page number beneath it. The notebook could hold both, whereas the full chairs no longer told her, by themselves, what had happened between them.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الصُّحْبَةَ | the companionship |
| عَلَامَةٍ وَرَقِيَّةٍ | a paper bookmark |
| الِاعْتِذَارِ | apologising |
| دَلِيلُ | evidence of |
| لِيُحَاسَبَ | to be held to account |
| شَخْصِيًّا | personal; directed at someone’s own life |
| نِيَّةَ | the intention of |
| سُهُولَةَ | the ease of |
| كَافِيَةً | sufficient |
| تَشْطُبْ | cross out |
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
- Comfortable company has value, but attendance alone does not show whether a reading discussion took place.
- A textual detail can complicate a judgement without proving intentions or forcing one shared opinion.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Laysa in Arabic: Is Not and Is Not Here
لَيْسَ السُّؤَالُ شَخْصِيًّا
Identify the nominative question and accusative description in a denied state.
Lakinna and Lakin in Arabic: Two Patterns for But
وَلَكِنَّ الرِّوَايَةَ مَفْتُوحَةٌ
Read lakinna as a contrast whose noun is accusative and descriptive predicate nominative.
