Friends soften an apology after a guest waits at the wrong entrance. A brief reply asks for the action hidden by the polished wording.
01Read the Arabic story
الِاعْتِذَارُ الَّذِي سَاعَدَ الْجَمِيعُ فِي كِتَابَتِهِ
أَرْسَلْتُ إِلَى أَمَلَ تَعْدِيلًا لِدَعْوَةِ الْقِرَاءَةِ: اُدْخُلِي مِنَ الْبَابِ الْجَانِبِيِّ. كَانَ الْحَارِسُ قَدْ قَالَ إِنَّهُ أَهْدَأُ، وَلَمْ أَسْأَلْ عَنْ مَوْعِدِ فَتْحِهِ. اِنْتَظَرَتْ عِنْدَهُ حَتَّى فَاتَتْهَا الْبِدَايَةُ. حِينَ أَخْبَرَتْنِي، كُنْتُ مُحْرَجَةً، فَطَلَبْتُ مِنْ صَدِيقَاتِي مُسَاعَدَتِي فِي كِتَابَةِ اعْتِذَارٍ. كُنْتُ أُرِيدُ أَنْ تَصِلَ الْكَلِمَاتُ بِدُونِ أَنْ تَزِيدَ الْجُرْحَ اتِّسَاعًا.
قَالَتْ وَاحِدَةٌ إِنَّ ذِكْرَ ضِيقِ الْوَقْتِ يُوَضِّحُ الْمَوْقِفَ. وَاقْتَرَحَتْ أُخْرَى «نَأْسَفُ» لِئَلَّا أَبْدُوَ وَحِيدَةً. أَضَافَتْ ثَالِثَةٌ تَحِيَّةً دَافِئَةً؛ كَانَتْ أَمَلُ قَدْ قَطَعَتْ طَرِيقًا طَوِيلًا لِتَحْضُرَ. قَرَأْنَا الْمُسَوَّدَةَ بِصَوْتٍ مُرْتَفِعٍ حَوْلَ طَاوِلَتِي، وَحَذَفْنَا جُمْلَةً تُوحِي بِأَنَّهَا لَمْ تَقْرَأِ الدَّعْوَةَ جَيِّدًا. بَقِيَتْ جُمْلَةٌ أُعْجِبْتُ بِسَلَاسَتِهَا: حَدَثَ سُوءُ تَفَاهُمٍ حَوْلَ الْمَدْخَلِ. أَرْسَلْتُ النَّصَّ بِاسْمِي.
جَاءَ رَدُّ أَمَلَ قَصِيرًا: مَنْ غَيَّرَ الْمَدْخَلَ، وَمَتَى؟ كُنْتُ قَدْ أَضَفْتُ أَسْبَابًا كَثِيرَةً، لَكِنَّ الْفَاعِلَ غَائِبٌ. لَمْ تَكُنْ تَسْأَلُ عَنْ صَدِيقَاتِي؛ رَسَالَتِي وَصَلَتْهَا ظُهْرًا، وَفِيهَا بَابٌ يَخْتَلِفُ عَنِ الدَّعْوَةِ الْأُولَى. وَضَعْتُ الْهَاتِفَ بِجَانِبِ الْمُسَوَّدَةِ. رَأَيْتُ «نَأْسَفُ» تَمْنَحُنِي رِفْقَةً لَمْ تَكُنْ مَعِي حِينَ غَيَّرْتُ رَسَالَتِي إِلَيْهَا وَأَرْسَلْتُهَا وَحْدِي.
قُلْتُ لِصَدِيقَاتِي إِنَّنِي سَأَكْتُبُ مَا فَعَلْتُ. سَأَلَتْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ: أَتَحْذِفِينَ مُسَاعَدَتَنَا؟ أَرَيْتُهَا التَّحِيَّةَ وَالْجُمْلَةَ عَنْ طَرِيقِ أَمَلَ؛ أَبْقَيْتُهُمَا. وَكَتَبْتُ: أَنَا غَيَّرْتُ الْمَدْخَلَ ظُهْرًا دُونَ التَّأَكُّدِ مِنْ فَتْحِ الْبَابِ، فَانْتَظَرْتِ عِنْدَهُ بِسَبَبِ رَسَالَتِي. لَمْ أَذْكُرِ الْحَارِسَ بَدِيلًا مِنِ اسْمِي، وَطَلَبْتُ مِنْ أَمَلَ أَنْ تُخْبِرَنِي إِنْ كَانَتْ تُرِيدُ حُضُورَ الْقِرَاءَةِ التَّالِيَةِ.
وَافَقَتْ عَلَى الْخَمِيسِ التَّالِي عِنْدَ الْخَامِسَةِ. تَأَكَّدْتُ مِنْ فَتْحِ الْبَابِ الرَّئِيسِيِّ، وَأَرْسَلْتُ خَرِيطَةً وَكَتَبْتُ أَنَّنِي سَأَنْتَظِرُهَا هُنَاكَ. لَمْ تُضِفْ أَمَلُ أَنَّ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ صَارَ حَسَنًا، وَأَنَا لَمْ أَطْلُبْ مِنْهَا ذَلِكَ. اِحْتَفَظْتُ بِالْمُسَوَّدَةِ الَّتِي كَتَبْنَاهَا مَعًا. وَعِنْدَ الْبَابِ، رَاجَعْتُ الْوَقْتَ عَلَى الْخَرِيطَةِ؛ لَمْ أَحْتَجْ إِلَى جُمْلَةٍ جَمِيلَةٍ لِأُرْشِدَهَا.
Show English translationHide English translation
I sent Amal a change to the invitation to the reading: “Come in through the side door.” The caretaker had said it was quieter, and I did not ask when it opened. She waited there until she missed the beginning. When she told me, I was embarrassed and asked my friends to help me write an apology. I wanted the words to reach her without making the hurt wider.
One said that mentioning the lack of time would explain the situation. Another suggested “we are sorry” so I would not appear alone. A third added a warm greeting; Amal had travelled a long way to attend. We read the draft aloud around my table and removed a sentence implying that she had not read the invitation properly. A sentence whose smoothness I admired remained: “There was a misunderstanding about the entrance.” I sent the text under my name.
Amal’s reply was short: “Who changed the entrance, and when?” I had added many reasons, but the agent was absent. She was not asking about my friends; my message had reached her at noon, and it named a different door from the original invitation. I put the phone beside the draft. I saw “we are sorry” giving me company that had not been with me when I changed my message to her and sent it alone.
I told my friends I would write what I had done. One asked, “Are you deleting our help?” I showed her the greeting and the sentence about Amal’s journey; I kept them both. I wrote, “I changed the entrance at noon without checking that the door was open, so you waited there because of my message.” I did not mention the caretaker in place of my name, and asked Amal to tell me whether she wanted to attend the next reading.
She agreed to the following Thursday at five. I checked that the main door would be open, sent a map and wrote that I would wait for her there. Amal did not add that everything was now fine, and I did not ask that of her. I kept the draft we had written together. At the door, I checked the time on the map; I did not need a beautiful sentence to guide her.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| تَعْدِيلًا | a change; amendment |
| الْجَانِبِيِّ | the side; lateral |
| مُحْرَجَةً | embarrassed |
| الْمُسَوَّدَةَ | the draft |
| بِسَلَاسَتِهَا | for its smoothness |
| الْفَاعِلَ | the agent; person who acted |
| رِفْقَةً | company; companionship |
| التَّحِيَّةَ | the greeting |
| بَدِيلًا | a substitute |
| خَرِيطَةً | a map |
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
- Collective help can improve an apology while leaving the sender responsible for her own action.
- A checked entrance and an agreed meeting repair an arrangement without claiming that the recipient has forgotten the hurt.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كُنْتُ مُحْرَجَةً
Kuntu places the female narrator’s embarrassment in the past, with muhrajatan as its accusative predicate.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
بِالْمُسَوَّدَةِ الَّتِي كَتَبْنَاهَا مَعًا
Allati links the feminine singular draft to the clause saying that the friends wrote it together.
