Adel keeps inviting a former colleague to dinner, but no date follows. A proposed Friday forces the narrator to examine both the invitation and his own part in the delay.
01Read the Arabic story
دَعْوَةٌ إِلَى الْعَشَاءِ بِلَا مَوْعِدٍ
كُلَّمَا الْتَقَيْتُ بِعَادِلٍ، زَمِيلِي السَّابِقِ، قَالَ إِنَّ عَلَيَّ أَنْ أَتَعَشَّى عِنْدَهُ قَرِيبًا. كَانَ يَقُولُهَا بِحَرَارَةٍ لَا تُشْبِهُ التَّحِيَّةَ الْعَابِرَةَ، ثُمَّ يَسْأَلُنِي عَنْ عَمَلِي. وَكُنْتُ أَحْمِلُ الدَّعْوَةَ مَعِي أَيَّامًا، كَمَا يَحْمِلُ الْمَرْءُ مِفْتَاحًا لَا يَعْرِفُ أَيَّ بَابٍ يَفْتَحُهُ. مَضَى عَامٌ، وَلَمْ أَعْرِفْ بَعْدُ أَيْنَ يَضَعُ عَادِلٌ طَاوِلَةَ الطَّعَامِ فِي بَيْتِهِ.
فِي لِقَائِنَا الْأَخِيرِ، أَخْرَجْتُ هَاتِفِي وَسَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ مَسَاءِ الْجُمُعَةِ. نَظَرَ إِلَى الشَّاشَةِ الَّتِي مَدَدْتُهَا نَحْوَهُ، ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّ أُمَّهُ سَتَصِلُ فِي ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ. أَغْلَقْتُ التَّقْوِيمَ بِسُرْعَةٍ، كَأَنَّ الرَّفْضَ كَانَ مُوَجَّهًا إِلَيَّ، لَا إِلَى مَوْعِدٍ وَاحِدٍ. وَقَبْلَ أَنْ يَسْتَأْنِفَ الْكَلَامَ، سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ زَمِيلٍ مُشْتَرَكٍ لَمْ نَرَهُ مُنْذُ زَمَنٍ. كَانَ السُّؤَالُ الْجَدِيدُ أَسْهَلَ عَلَيَّ مِنَ انْتِظَارِ جَوَابٍ لَمْ يَكْتَمِلْ.
وَأَنَا أَعُودُ، تَذَكَّرْتُ أَنَّهُ اقْتَرَحَ عَلَيَّ قَهْوَةً بَعْدَ الْعَمَلِ فِي الشِّتَاءِ. اعْتَذَرْتُ يَوْمَهَا لِانْشِغَالِي، وَلَمْ أَقْتَرِحْ بَدِيلًا. لَمْ يَكُنْ ذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ الدَّعْوَةَ إِلَى الْعَشَاءِ مَوْعِدًا حَقِيقِيًّا، وَلَكِنَّهُ أَفْسَدَ الرِّوَايَةَ الْمُرِيحَةَ الَّتِي كُنْتُ أُعِدُّهَا: أَنَّنِي الْمُنْتَظِرُ دَائِمًا، وَأَنَّهُ وَحْدَهُ يُؤَجِّلُ اللِّقَاءَ. كَانَ لِي مَكَانٌ فِي هَذَا التَّأْجِيلِ أَيْضًا.
فِي الْمَسَاءِ، وَصَلَتْ مِنْهُ رِسَالَةٌ: هَلْ يُنَاسِبُكَ شَايٌ يَوْمَ الْأَرْبِعَاءِ، قَبْلَ السَّابِعَةِ؟ تَمَنَّيْتُ لَوْ كَتَبَ عَشَاءً، ثُمَّ اسْتَغْرَبْتُ إِصْرَارِي عَلَى نَوْعِ الطَّعَامِ. كَانَ الْوَقْتُ الْمُحَدَّدُ أَضْيَقَ مِنْ خَيَالِي عَنْ أُمْسِيَةٍ طَوِيلَةٍ، لَكِنَّهُ أَوْسَعُ مِنْ كَلِمَةِ قَرِيبًا. أَجَبْتُهُ أَنَّنِي أَسْتَطِيعُ الْوُصُولَ فِي الْخَامِسَةِ، وَسَأَلْتُ عَنِ الْعُنْوَانِ.
أَرْسَلَ الْعُنْوَانَ، وَأَضَافَ أَنَّهُ سَيُوَصِّلُ أُمَّهُ إِلَى أُخْتِهِ بَعْدَ لِقَائِنَا. لَمْ تَكْشِفِ الرِّسَالَةُ مَا كَانَ يَقْصِدُهُ فِي كُلِّ دَعْوَةٍ سَابِقَةٍ، وَلَمْ تُحَوِّلْ حَيْرَتِي إِلَى ثِقَةٍ كَامِلَةٍ. فَتَحْتُ التَّقْوِيمَ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى، وَكَتَبْتُ: شَايٌ عِنْدَ عَادِلٍ. تَرَكْتُ بَعْدَ السَّابِعَةِ فَرَاغًا، وَلَمْ أَحْسَبْهُ هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ جُزْءًا مِنَ الدَّعْوَةِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Whenever I met Adel, my former colleague, he said I must come to dinner at his place soon. He said it with a warmth unlike a passing greeting, then asked about my work. I would carry the invitation with me for days, as someone carries a key without knowing which door it opens. A year passed, and I still did not know where Adel kept his dining table at home.
At our last meeting, I took out my phone and asked about Friday evening. He looked at the screen I held towards him, then said his mother would arrive that day. I quickly closed the calendar, as though the refusal were directed at me rather than at one particular time. Before he could continue, I asked about a mutual colleague we had not seen for a while. The new question was easier for me than waiting for an unfinished reply.
On my way back, I remembered that he had suggested coffee after work in winter. I had declined because I was busy and had offered no alternative. That did not make the dinner invitation a firm arrangement, but it spoiled the comfortable account I was preparing: that I was always the one waiting and he alone kept postponing our meeting. I had a part in that postponement too.
That evening, a message arrived from him: “Would tea on Wednesday suit you, before seven?” I wished he had written dinner, then wondered at my insistence on the kind of meal. The specified time allowed less than my imagined long evening, but more than the word “soon.” I replied that I could arrive at five and asked for the address.
He sent the address and added that he would drive his mother to his sister’s after our meeting. The message did not reveal what he had meant by every earlier invitation, nor turn my uncertainty into complete confidence. I opened the calendar again and wrote: “Tea at Adel’s.” I left the time after seven blank, and this time did not count it as part of the invitation.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| بِحَرَارَةٍ | with warmth |
| الْعَابِرَةَ | passing; brief |
| مِفْتَاحًا | a key |
| التَّقْوِيمَ | the calendar |
| يَسْتَأْنِفَ | he resumes |
| بَدِيلًا | an alternative |
| أُعِدُّهَا | I was preparing it |
| إِصْرَارِي | my insistence |
| الْعُنْوَانِ | the address |
| حَيْرَتِي | my uncertainty |
03Check your understanding
Read for perspective, implication and what the characters leave unsaid. Choose one answer for each question; open the English support when needed.
What to remember
- The forgotten coffee invitation challenges the narrator’s claim to have only been kept waiting.
- A clear end time makes a meeting possible without proving what every earlier invitation meant.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
وَلَمْ أَقْتَرِحْ بَدِيلًا
Notice lam stating that the narrator did not suggest another time.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الشَّاشَةِ الَّتِي مَدَدْتُهَا نَحْوَهُ
Follow allati as it connects the screen to the action describing it.
