A replacement page repairs tea damage but changes who asked for a grandfather’s departure. Saleh compares the wording without pretending to know the event.
01Read the Arabic story
تَارِيخُ عَائِلَةٍ اسْتُبْدِلَتْ فِيهِ صَفْحَةٌ
عَادَ صَالِحٌ إِلَى تَارِيخِ الْعَائِلَةِ الْمَطْبُوعِ لِيَنْقُلَ خَبَرَ رَحِيلِ جَدِّهِ سَلِيمٍ عَنْ قَرْيَتِهِ. كَانَتْ عَمَّتُهُ قَدْ أَعَادَتْ طِبَاعَةَ الصَّفْحَةِ الَّتِي تَلِفَتْ بِالشَّايِ، وَأَعَادَتْهَا إِلَى الْكِتَابِ يَوْمَ الْأَحَدِ. تَعَرَّفَ عَلَى الْفِقْرَةِ، وَلَكِنَّهُ تَوَقَّفَ عِنْدَ جُمْلَةٍ: «طُلِبَ مِنْ سَلِيمٍ أَنْ يَرْحَلَ». كَانَ يَذْكُرُ أَنَّهُ قَرَأَهَا مِنْ قَبْلُ بِصَوْتٍ مُخْتَلِفٍ فِي دَاخِلِهِ.
أَخْرَجَ مِنْ ظَرْفٍ صُورَةَ مُسَوَّدَةٍ أَرْسَلَتْهَا أُمُّهُ يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ السَّابِقِ. وَجَدَ فِيهَا: «طَلَبَ سَلِيمٌ أَنْ يَرْحَلَ». لَمْ يَكُنِ الْفَرْقُ ذِكْرَى عَامَّةً عَنْ جَدٍّ جَرِيءٍ؛ كَانَ أَمَامَهُ عَلَى الْوَرَقِ. فِي الْمُسَوَّدَةِ، يَبْدَأُ الْجَدُّ الطَّلَبَ، وَفِي الصَّفْحَةِ الْبَدِيلَةِ يَتَلَقَّاهُ، مِنْ طَرَفٍ لَمْ تُسَمِّهِ الْجُمْلَةُ. بَقِيَتْ سَنَةُ الرَّحِيلِ وَاسْمُ الْقَرْيَةِ كَمَا كَانَا.
قَالَتْ عَمَّتُهُ إِنَّ الصَّفْحَةَ الْجَدِيدَةَ أَوْضَحُ، وَإِنَّ النُّسْخَةَ الْقَدِيمَةَ كَانَتْ صَعْبَةَ الْقِرَاءَةِ. لَمْ يَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَتْ تَعْنِي الْحُرُوفَ أَمِ الْحِكَايَةَ. سَأَلَهَا عَمَّنْ أَجَازَ تَغْيِيرَ الْجُمْلَةِ، فَقَالَتْ إِنَّهَا أَرْسَلَتْ صُورَةَ الصَّفْحَةِ التَّالِفَةِ إِلَى الْمَطْبَعَةِ وَلَمْ تَحْتَفِظْ بِالرِّسَالَةِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ ذَلِكَ جَوَابًا عَنِ الْإِجَازَةِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ دَلِيلًا عَلَى قَصْدِهَا أَنْ تُبَدِّلَ الْخَبَرَ.
قَرَأَ صَالِحٌ الْعِبَارَتَيْنِ لِأُمِّهِ فِي الْهَاتِفِ. قَالَتْ إِنَّهَا تَذْكُرُ الْجَدَّ غَاضِبًا مِنَ الرَّحِيلِ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَتْهُ إِنْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ يَحْسِمُ مَنْ طَلَبَهُ. كَانَتْ قَدْ سَمِعَتِ الْحِكَايَةَ مِنْهُ بَعْدَ سَنَوَاتٍ، لَا يَوْمَ الرَّحِيلِ. عَادَ إِلَى الْكِتَابِ؛ الْجُمْلَةُ الْأَقْدَمُ لَا تَصِيرُ بِقِدَمِهَا شَهَادَةَ عِيَانٍ، وَالْجُمْلَةُ الْأَجْدَدُ لَا تُكْسِبُهُ يَقِينًا بِحُرُوفِهَا الْوَاضِحَةِ.
صَوَّرَ الصَّفْحَةَ الْبَدِيلَةَ وَوَضَعَ الصُّورَتَيْنِ فِي الظَّرْفِ. كَتَبَ مَصْدَرَ كُلِّ وَاحِدَةٍ وَتَارِيخَ وُصُولِهَا، وَتَرَكَ سُؤَالَ الْإِجَازَةِ مَفْتُوحًا. لَمْ يُعِدْ كِتَابَةَ رَحِيلِ جَدِّهِ؛ أَضَافَ إِلَى فَهْرَسِ الْكِتَابِ إِشَارَةً إِلَى اخْتِلَافِ النُّسْخَتَيْنِ. وَحِينَ أَغْلَقَهُ، بَقِيَ طَرَفُ الصَّفْحَةِ الْجَدِيدَةِ بَارِزًا. أَصْلَحَتِ الْعَمَّةُ وَرَقَةً، أَمَّا الْعِبَارَةُ الَّتِي فِيهَا فَلَمْ يَعُدْ يَسْتَطِيعُ نَقْلَهَا بِلَا إِشَارَةٍ.
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Saleh returned to the printed family history to copy the account of his grandfather Salim’s departure from his village. His aunt had reprinted the page damaged by tea and put it back in the book on Sunday. He recognised the paragraph but stopped at a sentence: “Salim was asked to leave.” He remembered having read it before with a different voice sounding inside him.
From an envelope he took out a photocopy of a draft his mother had sent the previous Thursday. There he found: “Salim asked to leave.” The difference was not a general memory of a bold grandfather: it was in front of him on paper. In the draft the grandfather initiates the request; on the replacement page he receives it from a party the sentence does not name. The year of departure and the village’s name remained as they had been.
His aunt said the new page was clearer and the old version had been hard to read. He did not know whether she meant the letters or the story. He asked who had authorised changing the sentence. She said she had sent a photograph of the damaged page to the printer and had not kept the message. That was not an answer about authorisation, nor was it evidence that she had intended to change the account.
Saleh read both phrases to his mother over the phone. She said she remembered the grandfather being angry about leaving, then asked whether that settled who had requested it. She had heard the story from him years later, not on the day he left. Saleh returned to the book: the older sentence did not become eyewitness testimony through its age, and the newer sentence did not give him certainty through its clear lettering.
He photographed the replacement page and put both copies in the envelope. He recorded the source and arrival date of each and left the question of authorisation open. He did not rewrite his grandfather’s departure; he added a note to the book’s index pointing to the difference between the versions. When he closed it, the new page’s edge remained sticking out. His aunt had repaired a sheet; he could no longer quote its sentence without a note.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْمَطْبُوعِ | the printed |
| تَلِفَتْ | was damaged |
| ظَرْفٍ | an envelope |
| مُسَوَّدَةٍ | a draft |
| الْبَدِيلَةِ | the replacement |
| أَجَازَ | authorised; approved |
| الْمَطْبَعَةِ | the printing house; printer |
| الْإِجَازَةِ | the authorisation; permission |
| شَهَادَةَ عِيَانٍ | eyewitness testimony |
| بَارِزًا | sticking out; protruding |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Track voices, omissions and competing accounts. Choose the reading best supported by the Arabic text.
What to remember
- A change from initiating a request to receiving it alters the account without identifying the omitted requester.
- A draft’s age and a recollection of anger cannot by themselves determine how the departure occurred.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الصَّفْحَةِ الَّتِي تَلِفَتْ بِالشَّايِ
Use allati to join the definite feminine page to the clause describing its damage.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
وَلَمْ تَحْتَفِظْ بِالرِّسَالَةِ
Notice the final sukun in the sound-final verb after lam, denying that she kept the message.
