A tailor expects to make a new wedding suit. A borrowed garment asks him to work for two wearers and a future return.
01Read the Arabic story
الْخَيَّاطُ وَبَدْلَةُ الزِّفَافِ الْمُسْتَعَارَةُ
عَلَّقَ حَامِدٌ الْبَدْلَةَ الْكُحْلِيَّةَ عَلَى حَامِلٍ، وَسَأَلَ سَالِمًا عَنْ مَوْعِدِ زِفَافِهِ. ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ يُرِيدُ نُسْخَةً جَدِيدَةً مِنْهَا، فَبَدَأَ يَصِفُ أَقْمِشَةً فِي الْخِزَانَةِ. قَالَ سَالِمٌ إِنَّ الْبَدْلَةَ مُسْتَعَارَةٌ مِنْ صَدِيقِهِ، وَإِنَّهُ يُرِيدُ تَعْدِيلَهَا فَقَطْ. لَمْ يَكُنْ حَامِدٌ يَرَى تَفْصِيلَ بَدْلَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ شَرْطًا لِلزِّفَافِ، لَكِنَّهُ اعْتَادَ أَنْ يَبْدَأَ عَمَلَهُ بِقُمَاشٍ يَخْتَارُهُ هُوَ.
قَاسَ الْكُمَّيْنِ، ثُمَّ وَضَعَ دَبَّابِيسَ عِنْدَ الْخَصْرِ. سَأَلَ سَالِمًا عَنْ إِمْكَانِ قَصِّ الزَّائِدِ، فَأَخْرَجَ رِسَالَةَ صَدِيقِهِ: يُمْكِنُ تَقْصِيرُ الْكُمَّيْنِ بِالْخِيَاطَةِ، لَا بِالْقَصِّ. كَانَ الصَّدِيقُ سَيَحْتَاجُ الْبَدْلَةَ بَعْدَ شَهْرٍ. أَزَالَ حَامِدٌ دَبُّوسًا وَأَعَادَهُ فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ. لَمْ يَكُنْ أَمَامَهُ جِسْمٌ وَاحِدٌ وَمُنَاسَبَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ، بَلْ قِطْعَةٌ سَتَنْتَقِلُ بَيْنَ اسْتِعْمَالَيْنِ مُخْتَلِفَيْنِ.
اقْتَرَحَ طَيَّ الْقُمَاشِ إِلَى الدَّاخِلِ بِغُرَزٍ يُمْكِنُ فَكُّهَا. قَالَ سَالِمٌ إِنَّهُ لَا يُرِيدُ أَنْ تَبْدُوَ الْبَدْلَةُ مُؤَقَّتَةً فِي الصُّوَرِ. أَرَاهُ حَامِدٌ الْفَرْقَ بَيْنَ غُرْزَةٍ وَاضِحَةٍ وَأُخْرَى مَخْفِيَّةٍ، ثُمَّ طَلَبَ أَنْ يَجْلِسَ وَيَمُدَّ ذِرَاعَيْهِ. لَمْ يَكُنِ الْحَلُّ أَرْخَصَ فِي الْوَقْتِ؛ احْتَاجَ إِلَى تَجْرِبَةٍ أُخْرَى، وَكَانَتْ بَعْضُ الطَّيَّاتِ أَثْخَنَ مِمَّا أَحَبَّ الْخَيَّاطُ.
عِنْدَ التَّسْلِيمِ، سَأَلَهُ سَالِمٌ إِنْ كَانَ يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يُضِيفَ اسْمَ الْمَحَلِّ دَاخِلَ الْبَدْلَةِ. تَرَدَّدَ حَامِدٌ، ثُمَّ كَتَبَ طَرِيقَةَ فَكِّ الْغُرَزِ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ صَغِيرَةٍ بَدَلًا مِنْ إِضَافَةِ الْبِطَاقَةِ. قَالَ إِنَّ صَاحِبَهَا قَدْ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى خَيَّاطٍ آخَرَ. وَضَعَ الْوَرَقَةَ فِي الْجَيْبِ، وَأَبْقَى خَيْطًا أَحْمَرَ قَصِيرًا دَاخِلَ الْكُمِّ لِيُحَدِّدَ بِدَايَةَ الْفَكِّ دُونَ أَنْ يَظْهَرَ.
بَعْدَ الزِّفَافِ، عَادَ سَالِمٌ بِالْبَدْلَةِ لِيُعِيدَهَا إِلَى مَقَاسِ صَدِيقِهِ. أَرَاهُ صُورَةً لَهُ وَهُوَ يَمُدُّ يَدَهُ، فَنَظَرَ حَامِدٌ إِلَى الْكُمِّ قَبْلَ الْوَجْهِ. ثُمَّ فَكَّ الْغُرَزَ بِعِنَايَةٍ. اخْتَفَى مُعْظَمُ التَّعْدِيلِ الَّذِي عَمِلَ عَلَيْهِ، وَبَقِيَتْ عِنْدَهُ الْوَرَقَةُ. لَمْ يُعَلِّقِ الصُّورَةَ فِي الْوَاجِهَةِ؛ أَخْرَجَ قِطْعَةَ قُمَاشٍ وَجَرَّبَ عَلَيْهَا طَيَّةً أَرَقَّ لِطَلَبٍ قَادِمٍ يُشْبِهُ هَذَا الطَّلَبَ.
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Hamid hung the navy suit on a stand and asked Salim about his wedding date. Thinking he wanted a new version of it, he began describing fabrics in the cupboard. Salim said the suit was borrowed from his friend and he only wanted it altered. Hamid did not consider a newly made suit a condition for a wedding, but he was accustomed to beginning work with fabric he chose himself.
He measured the sleeves, then placed pins at the waist. He asked Salim whether he could cut away the excess, and Salim took out his friend’s message: the sleeves could be shortened with stitching, not cutting. The friend would need the suit in a month. Hamid removed a pin and replaced it elsewhere. Before him was not one body and one occasion, but a garment that would move between two different uses.
He proposed folding the fabric inward with removable stitches. Salim said he did not want the suit to look temporary in the photographs. Hamid showed him the difference between a visible and a hidden stitch, then asked him to sit and stretch out his arms. The solution did not cost less time: it needed another fitting, and some folds were thicker than the tailor liked.
At collection, Salim asked whether he could add the shop’s name inside the suit. Hamid hesitated, then wrote instructions for removing the stitches on a small sheet instead of adding the label. He said the owner might need another tailor. He put the sheet in the pocket and left a short red thread inside the sleeve to mark where removal began without showing outside.
After the wedding, Salim returned with the suit to restore his friend’s measurements. He showed Hamid a picture of himself reaching out a hand, and Hamid looked at the sleeve before the face. Then he carefully removed the stitches. Most of the alteration he had worked on disappeared, and the sheet remained with him. He did not put the photograph in the window; he took out a piece of fabric and tested a thinner fold for a future order like this one.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْكُحْلِيَّةَ | navy blue |
| حَامِلٍ | a stand |
| أَقْمِشَةً | fabrics |
| الْكُمَّيْنِ | the two sleeves |
| دَبَّابِيسَ | pins |
| الْخَصْرِ | the waist |
| بِغُرَزٍ | with stitches |
| مُؤَقَّتَةً | temporary; provisional |
| أَثْخَنَ | thicker |
| الْوَاجِهَةِ | the shop window |
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
- Reversibility adds requirements to the tailor’s work rather than removing the need for skill.
- A useful alteration may leave no permanent signature and still lead to further learning.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Past-Tense Endings: I Wrote, You Wrote and We Wrote
ثُمَّ كَتَبَ طَرِيقَةَ فَكِّ الْغُرَزِ
Read kataba as a male singular past form naming Hamid’s writing action.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
التَّعْدِيلِ الَّذِي عَمِلَ عَلَيْهِ
Connect the definite masculine alteration to the clause identifying the tailor’s work.
