Lina’s clearest chart seems to confirm the success of a new procedure. Checking the collection hours makes that clarity harder to defend.
01Read the Arabic story
الْبَاحِثَةُ الَّتِي حَذَفَتْ أَفْضَلَ رَسْمٍ بَيَانِيٍّ لَهَا
كَانَتْ لِينَا تُرَتِّبُ شَرَائِحَ عَرْضِهَا عَنْ طَرِيقَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ لِتَسْجِيلِ الطَّلَبَاتِ فِي مَرْكَزٍ صَغِيرٍ. أَحَبَّتْ رَسْمًا بِعَمُودَيْنِ بُرْتُقَالِيَّيْنِ، أَحَدُهُمَا قَصِيرٌ وَالْآخَرُ مُرْتَفِعٌ، تَحْتَ عُنْوَانِ «تَضَاعَفَ الْإِنْجَازُ». قَالَ مُشْرِفُهَا إِنَّهُ أَوْضَحُ جُزْءٍ فِي الْعَرْضِ. وَكَانَتْ تَتَخَيَّلُهُ فِي التَّقْرِيرِ النِّهَائِيِّ، حَتَّى قَبْلَ أَنْ تَكْتُبَ خَاتِمَتَهُ. فِي الْمَسَاءِ السَّابِقِ لِلْعَرْضِ، عَادَتْ إِلَى الدَّفْتَرِ لِمُرَاجَعَةِ الْأَرْقَامِ.
كَانَتِ الْأَعْدَادُ صَحِيحَةً، وَكَذَلِكَ التَّوَارِيخُ. لَكِنَّ الطَّلَبَاتِ الْقَدِيمَةَ عُدَّتْ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْأَخِيرَةِ قَبْلَ إِغْلَاقِ الْمَرْكَزِ، وَالْجَدِيدَةَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْأُولَى، حِينَ يَكْثُرُ الزُّوَّارُ. رَأَتْ لِينَا الْوَقْتَيْنِ مَكْتُوبَيْنِ تَحْتَ الْعَمُودَيْنِ بِخَطٍّ صَغِيرٍ. لَمْ تَكُنِ الْمَعْلُومَةُ مَخْفِيَّةً، وَلَكِنَّ الْعُنْوَانَ كَانَ يَجْعَلُ اخْتِلَافَ الطَّرِيقَةِ تَفْسِيرًا وَحِيدًا لِلْفَرْقِ. قَرَأَتِ الْعُنْوَانَ بِصَوْتٍ مُرْتَفِعٍ، فَبَدَا أَجْرَأَ مِنَ الْأَرْقَامِ.
اقْتَرَحَ زَمِيلٌ تَكْبِيرَ الْمُلَاحَظَةِ بَدَلًا مِنْ حَذْفِ الرَّسْمِ. كَانَ حَلًّا يَحْفَظُ أَثَرَهُ وَيُظْهِرُ الْوَقْتَ، وَقَدْ أَغْرَاهَا لِدَقَائِقَ. غَيْرَ أَنَّهَا لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ تَخَيُّلَ نَفْسِهَا تَقُولُ الْعُنْوَانَ ثُمَّ تُصَحِّحُ مَعْنَاهُ فِي الْجُمْلَةِ التَّالِيَةِ. لَيْسَ الْفَرْقُ كَاذِبًا؛ كَانَ السُّؤَالُ مَا الَّذِي يَسْمَحُ بِقَوْلِهِ. نَقَلَتِ الرَّسْمَ إِلَى مِلَفٍّ آخَرَ، وَبَقِيَ مَكَانُهُ فَارِغًا فِي الْعَرْضِ.
وَجَدَتْ فِي الدَّفْتَرِ طَلَبَاتِ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ لِكُلِّ طَرِيقَةٍ سُجِّلَتْ فِي السَّاعَةِ نَفْسِهَا. رَسَمَتْهَا بِاللَّوْنِ الْأَزْرَقِ، فَظَهَرَ فَرْقٌ أَصْغَرُ لَا يَشْبَهُ الْعُنْوَانَ الْأَوَّلَ. كَتَبَتْ عَدَدَ الْأَيَّامِ بِوُضُوحٍ، وَأَضَافَتْ سُؤَالًا عَمَّا إِذَا كَانَ هَذَا الْفَرْقُ سَيَسْتَمِرُّ. اعْتَرَضَ مُشْرِفُهَا عَلَى قِصَرِ الْمُدَّةِ، فَأَبْقَتْ مُلَاحَظَتَهُ جَانِبَ الْمُخَطَّطِ، دُونَ أَنْ تُعِيدَ الْعَمُودَيْنِ الْبُرْتُقَالِيَّيْنِ.
فِي الْقَاعَةِ، انْتَظَرَتْ أَنْ يَمُرَّ الْمُخَطَّطُ الْأَزْرَقُ سَرِيعًا، لَكِنَّ سُؤَالًا أَوْقَفَهَا: هَلْ يُمْكِنُ تَكْرَارُ الْعَدِّ فِي الشَّهْرِ الْقَادِمِ؟ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَمْلِكُ مُوَافَقَةً عَلَى ذَلِكَ بَعْدُ. كَتَبَتِ الِاقْتِرَاحَ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ، وَعَادَتْ إِلَى الْعَرْضِ. بَعْدَ انْتِهَائِهِ، وَضَعَتِ الْوَرَقَةَ بِجَانِبِ الرَّسْمِ الْمَحْذُوفِ، كَتَبَتْ: «أَيُّ سَاعَةٍ نَخْتَارُ؟» وَتَرَكَتْ لِلْإِجَابَةِ مَسَاحَةً.
Show English translationHide English translation
Lina was arranging slides about a new way of recording requests at a small centre. She loved a chart with two orange bars, one short and the other tall, beneath the heading “Output has doubled.” Her supervisor said it was the clearest part of the presentation. She was already imagining it in the final report, even before writing its conclusion. On the evening before the presentation, she returned to the notebook to check the numbers.
The counts were correct, as were the dates. But the old requests had been counted in the final hour before the centre closed, and the new ones in the first hour, when there were more visitors. Lina saw both times written beneath the bars in small print. The information was not hidden, but the heading made the change in procedure the sole explanation for the difference. She read the heading aloud, and it sounded bolder than the numbers.
A colleague proposed enlarging the note instead of deleting the chart. This would preserve its impact and show the time, and it tempted her for a few minutes. Yet she could not imagine herself saying the heading and then correcting its meaning in the next sentence. The difference was not false; the question was what it allowed her to say. She moved the chart to another file, leaving its place empty in the presentation.
In the notebook she found requests from three days for each procedure, recorded at the same hour. She plotted them in blue, revealing a smaller difference that did not resemble the first heading. She clearly stated the number of days and added a question about whether this difference would continue. Her supervisor objected to the short period, so she kept his comment beside the chart without restoring the two orange bars.
In the room, she expected the blue chart to pass quickly, but a question stopped her: “Could the count be repeated next month?” She did not yet have approval for that. She wrote the suggestion on a sheet of paper and returned to the presentation. Afterwards, she placed the sheet beside the removed chart. She wrote, “Which hour should we choose?” and left room for an answer.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| شَرَائِحَ | slides |
| بُرْتُقَالِيَّيْنِ | orange; describing two bars |
| مُشْرِفُهَا | her supervisor |
| عُدَّتْ | were counted |
| مَخْفِيَّةً | hidden |
| أَجْرَأَ | bolder |
| أَغْرَاهَا | tempted her |
| الْجُمْلَةِ التَّالِيَةِ | the next sentence |
| تَكْرَارُ الْعَدِّ | repeating the count |
| الْمَحْذُوفِ | removed; deleted |
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
- Correct counts can still be arranged into a comparison whose headline implies an unsupported explanation.
- Lina replaces a striking claim with a limited result and a possible next investigation; uncertainty remains part of the work.
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 الْفَرْقُ كَاذِبًا
Notice the nominative noun and accusative predicate when laysa denies that the difference itself is false.
Arabic Past-Tense Endings: I Wrote, You Wrote and We Wrote
كَتَبَتِ الِاقْتِرَاحَ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ
Use the feminine past form katabat to identify Lina as the writer of the audience’s suggestion.
