Nuha’s office swap gives her colleagues room to work. A printer request tests whether a change in space also creates room for their questions.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمُدِيرَةُ الَّتِي اخْتَارَتِ الْمَكْتَبَ الْأَصْغَرَ
عَلَّقَتْ نُهَى مُخَطَّطًا لِغُرْفَتَيْنِ فِي مَرْكَزِ التَّصْمِيمِ، وَأَعْلَنَتْ أَنَّهَا سَتَنْتَقِلُ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبِ الْأَصْغَرِ. أَمَّا مَكْتَبُهَا الْوَاسِعُ فَسَيُصْبِحُ غُرْفَةَ عَمَلٍ مُشْتَرَكَةً. كَانَتْ أَوْرَاقُ الْمَشْرُوعِ تُفْرَشُ فِي الْمَمَرِّ، وَتُرْفَعُ كُلَّمَا مَرَّ أَحَدٌ. وَضَعَ سَلِيمٌ مُخَطَّطَهُ الْمَلْفُوفَ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ الطَّوِيلَةِ، وَفَتَحَهُ دُونَ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَى الْبَابِ هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ.
سَمَّى بَعْضُ الْمُوَظَّفِينَ الْخُطْوَةَ تَوَاضُعًا، وَرَأَى آخَرُونَ فِيهَا صُورَةً جَيِّدَةً لِنَشْرَةِ الْمَرْكَزِ. لَمْ يَخْتَرْ سَلِيمٌ وَاحِدًا مِنَ التَّفْسِيرَيْنِ. وَضَعَتْ نُهَى الْمِفْتَاحَ النُّحَاسِيَّ لِلْمَكْتَبِ الْكَبِيرِ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ، وَاحْتَفَظَتْ بِمِفْتَاحِ مَكْتَبِهَا. وَظَلَّتِ الطَّلَبَاتُ تَصِلُ إِلَيْهَا بِالطَّرِيقَةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ، مِنْ خِلَالِ مُسَاعِدِهَا. كَانَ الْمَكَانُ الْجَدِيدُ يَتَّسِعُ لِلْأَوْرَاقِ؛ أَمَّا الْأَسْئِلَةُ فَلَمْ تَجِدْ بَعْدُ طَرِيقًا جَدِيدًا.
فِي أَوَّلِ اجْتِمَاعٍ بَعْدَ الِانْتِقَالِ، اقْتَرَحَ سَلِيمٌ نَقْلَ الطَّابِعَةِ إِلَى الْغُرْفَةِ الْمُشْتَرَكَةِ. رَدَّتْ نُهَى أَنَّ الْمَوْضُوعَ لَيْسَ مُدْرَجًا فِي الْجَدْوَلِ. طَوَى وَرَقَتَهُ وَجَلَسَ. وَحِينَ طَلَبَتْ أَنْ يَقْتَرِبُوا مِنَ الْمُخَطَّطِ، قَالَ إِنَّ الطَّابِعَةَ هِيَ الَّتِي تَقْطَعُ الْعَمَلَ: يَتْرُكُ أَحَدُهُمُ الْغُرْفَةَ لِطِبَاعَةِ تَعْدِيلٍ، ثُمَّ يَعُودُ فَيَجِدُ النِّقَاشَ قَدْ تَقَدَّمَ دُونَهُ.
نَظَرَتْ نُهَى إِلَى الْجَدْوَلِ وَشَطَبَتْ فِقْرَةَ تَصْوِيرِ الْمَكَانِ الْجَدِيدِ. سَأَلَتْ عَنْ مَوْضِعٍ لِلطَّابِعَةِ لَا يُضَيِّقُ الْمَمَرَّ، وَبَدَأَ خِلَافٌ حَوْلَ الضَّجِيجِ وَالْمَسَاحَةِ. لَمْ يَنْتَهِ الِاجْتِمَاعُ بِقَرَارٍ، وَلَمْ يُعَدَّلِ الْجَدْوَلُ بِسُهُولَةٍ. وَكَتَبَتْ مُلَاحَظَةً لِمُرَاجَعَةِ الْأَمْرِ يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ. قَالَتْ إِنَّ بَابَهَا سَيَبْقَى مَفْتُوحًا صَبَاحَ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ، ثُمَّ حَدَّدَتْ سَاعَةً كَيْلَا يَكُونَ الْوَعْدُ مُجَرَّدَ عِبَارَةٍ.
عِنْدَ الْخُرُوجِ، حَمَلَ سَلِيمٌ الْمُخَطَّطَ الَّذِي كَانَ يَشْغَلُ طَرَفَ الطَّاوِلَةِ، ثُمَّ تَرَكَهُ مَبْسُوطًا لِيَرَاهُ زُمَلَاؤُهُ. لَمْ يَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَتِ الطَّابِعَةُ سَتَنْتَقِلُ، وَلَمْ يَرَ فِي الْغُرْفَةِ الْأَصْغَرِ جَوَابًا عَنْ ذَلِكَ. وَقَبْلَ أَنْ تَغَادِرَ نُهَى، سَأَلَهَا أَيْنَ سَتُكْتَبُ نَتِيجَةُ لِقَاءِ الْخَمِيسِ. أَعَادَتْ فَتْحَ دَفْتَرِهَا، وَتَرَكَتْ تَحْتَ الْمُلَاحَظَةِ سَطْرًا فَارِغًا.
Show English translationHide English translation
Nuha put up a plan of two rooms in the design centre and announced that she would move into the smaller office. Her spacious office would become a shared workroom. The project papers had been spread out in the corridor and picked up whenever someone passed. Salim placed his rolled-up plan on the long table and opened it without looking towards the door this time.
Some employees called the move modesty; others saw a good image for the centre’s newsletter. Salim chose neither explanation. Nuha placed the large office’s brass key on the table and kept the key to her own office. Requests still reached her the old way, through her assistant. The new space could accommodate the papers; questions, however, had not yet found a new route.
At the first meeting after the move, Salim proposed moving the printer into the shared room. Nuha replied that the matter was not on the agenda. He folded his sheet and sat down. When she asked them to come closer to the plan, he said the printer was what interrupted the work: someone would leave the room to print a revision, then return to find that the discussion had moved on without them.
Nuha looked at the agenda and crossed out the item for photographing the new space. She asked about a place for the printer that would not narrow the passage, and a disagreement began about noise and space. The meeting ended without a decision, and adjusting the agenda was not easy. She wrote a note to reconsider the matter on Thursday. She said her door would remain open that morning, then specified an hour so that the promise would not be merely a phrase.
As he was leaving, Salim picked up the plan that had occupied the end of the table, then left it spread out for his colleagues to see. He did not know whether the printer would move, and he did not see the smaller room as an answer to that question. Before Nuha left, he asked where the outcome of Thursday’s meeting would be recorded. She reopened her notebook and left a blank line beneath the note.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مُخَطَّطًا لِغُرْفَتَيْنِ | a plan of two rooms |
| تُفْرَشُ | were spread out |
| الْمَلْفُوفَ | rolled up |
| الْمِفْتَاحَ النُّحَاسِيَّ | the brass key |
| لِنَشْرَةِ الْمَرْكَزِ | for the centre’s newsletter |
| مُدْرَجًا فِي الْجَدْوَلِ | on the agenda |
| لِطِبَاعَةِ تَعْدِيلٍ | to print a revision |
| وَشَطَبَتْ | and crossed out |
| مَبْسُوطًا | spread out |
| سَطْرًا فَارِغًا | a blank line |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Follow the details, shifts in perspective and limits of what the characters know. Open the English support when needed.
What to remember
- The shared room solves a real spatial problem without automatically changing how staff reach the director.
- The altered agenda and requested record make follow-up visible; the printer decision remains open.
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 مُدْرَجًا فِي الْجَدْوَلِ
Read laysa as negating inclusion on the agenda, with mudrajan as its accusative descriptive predicate.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْمُخَطَّطَ الَّذِي كَانَ يَشْغَلُ طَرَفَ الطَّاوِلَةِ
Read alladhi linking the masculine singular plan to its place on the table.
