A full room seems to answer every question until one name is missing.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمُسْتَشَارُ الَّذِي طَرَحَ سُؤَالًا وَاحِدًا
كُنْتُ فَخُورًا بِقَائِمَةِ الْحُضُورِ فِي لِقَاءَاتِ الْكِتَابَةِ الْمَجَّانِيَّةِ الَّتِي نُنَظِّمُهَا مَسَاءً. فَقَدْ بَقِيَتْ مَقَاعِدُ الْقَاعَةِ مُمْتَلِئَةً طَوَالَ الشَّهْرِ، وَكَتَبْتُ فِي مُلَخَّصِي أَنَّ الْإِقْبَالَ مُسْتَقِرٌّ. حِينَ زَارَنَا مُسْتَشَارٌ دَعَوْنَاهُ لِمُرَاجَعَةِ الْبَرْنَامَجِ، وَضَعْتُ الْقَائِمَةَ أَمَامَهُ كَأَنَّهَا إِجَابَةٌ سَبَقَتْ سُؤَالَهُ. كَانَ بَعْضُ الْحَاضِرِينَ يَقْرَأُ نُصُوصَهُ، وَكُنْتُ أَنْتَظِرُ تَعْلِيقًا عَلَى النَّجَاحِ الَّذِي أَرَاهُ.
تَتَبَّعَ الْمُسْتَشَارُ الْأَسْمَاءَ بِإِصْبَعِهِ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَ: «أَيُّ اسْمٍ لَمْ يَعُدْ يَظْهَرُ هُنَا؟» لَمْ يَطْلُبْ رَقْمًا أَكْبَرَ، وَلَا دَفْتَرًا آخَرَ. أَشَرْتُ إِلَى رَامِي، الْمُشَارِكِ الَّذِي حَضَرَ أَوَّلَ لِقَاءَيْنِ، وَقُلْتُ إِنَّ مَقْعَدَهُ لَمْ يَبْقَ خَالِيًا. سَمِعْتُ نَفْسِي أَصِفُ الْمَقْعَدَ بَدَلًا مِنَ الرَّجُلِ، فَتَوَقَّفْتُ قَبْلَ أَنْ أُكْمِلَ الْجُمْلَةَ الَّتِي أَعْدَدْتُهَا.
بَعْدَ اللِّقَاءِ اتَّصَلْتُ بِرَامِي. أَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّ وَقْتَ عَمَلِهِ تَغَيَّرَ، وَأَنَّهُ أَرْسَلَ إِلَيَّ طَلَبًا لِلِقَاءٍ صَبَاحِيٍّ. تَذَكَّرْتُ الرِّسَالَةَ؛ كُنْتُ قَدْ أَلْحَقْتُهَا بِسِجِلِّ الْمُرَاسَلَاتِ، دُونَ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهَا فِي الْمُلَخَّصِ. قَالَ إِنَّهُ مَا زَالَ يَكْتُبُ، لَكِنَّهُ يَفْتَقِدُ سَمَاعَ تَعْلِيقَاتِ الْمَجْمُوعَةِ. لَمْ يَقُلْ إِنَّ الْبَرْنَامَجَ فَشِلَ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ صَمْتُهُ فِي الْقَائِمَةِ عُزُوفًا عَنِ الْكِتَابَةِ.
عُدْتُ إِلَى الْمُلَخَّصِ وَلَمْ أَمْحُ عَدَدَ الْحَاضِرِينَ. كَانَ صَحِيحًا، لَكِنَّ كَلِمَةَ «مُسْتَقِرٌّ» أَوْحَتْ بِأَنَّ الْأَشْخَاصَ نَفْسَهُمْ بَقُوا مَعَنَا. أَضَفْتُ أَسْمَاءَ مَنْ تَوَقَّفُوا، وَأَسْبَابَهُمْ إِنْ عَرَفْتُهَا، وَتَرَكْتُ خَانَةً لِمَا لَمْ أَعْرِفْهُ. ثُمَّ اقْتَرَحْتُ عَلَى الْفَرِيقِ تَجْرِبَةَ مَوْعِدٍ ثَانٍ، لَا وَعْدًا بِأَنَّ مَوْعِدًا وَاحِدًا سَيُنَاسِبُ الْجَمِيعَ دَائِمًا.
فِي الْأُسْبُوعِ التَّالِي أَرْسَلْتُ إِلَى رَامِي الْمَوْعِدَ التَّجْرِيبِيَّ، فَأَجَابَ أَنَّهُ سَيُحَاوِلُ الْحُضُورَ. لَمْ أُضِفْهُ بَعْدُ إِلَى الْقَائِمَةِ. أَمَّا الْمُسْتَشَارُ فَقَدْ غَادَرَ دُونَ خُطَّةٍ جَاهِزَةٍ، وَبَقِيَ سُؤَالُهُ فَوْقَ مَكْتَبِي. حِينَ امْتَلَأَتِ الْقَاعَةُ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى، نَظَرْتُ إِلَى الْأَسْمَاءِ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَنْظُرَ إِلَى الْمَجْمُوعِ. كَانَ عَلَيَّ أَنْ أَعْرِفَ مَنْ أَخَذَ مَقْعَدًا، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَحْ لَهُ وَقْتُهُ بِالْحُضُورِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
I was proud of the attendance list for the free writing meetings we organised in the evenings. The seats had remained full throughout the month, and I wrote in my summary that attendance was steady. When a consultant we had invited to review the programme visited, I placed the list before him as though it answered his question in advance. Some participants were reading their texts, and I awaited a comment on the success I saw.
The consultant followed the names with his finger, then asked, “Which name no longer appears here?” He requested neither a larger number nor another notebook. I pointed to Rami, the participant who had attended the first two meetings, and said his seat had not remained empty. I heard myself describing the seat rather than the man and stopped before completing the sentence I had prepared.
After the meeting, I called Rami. He told me his working hours had changed and that he had sent me a request for a morning meeting. I remembered the message: I had attached it to the correspondence record without mentioning it in the summary. He said he still wrote but missed hearing the group’s comments. He did not say the programme had failed; his silence in the list did not mean he had lost interest in writing.
I returned to the summary without erasing the attendance figure. It was correct, but “steady” suggested the same people had stayed with us. I added the names of those who had stopped attending and their reasons where I knew them, leaving a space for what I did not know. Then I proposed trying a second meeting time, rather than promising that one time would always suit everyone.
The next week, I sent Rami the trial time, and he replied that he would try to attend. I did not yet add him to the list. The consultant had left without a ready-made plan, but his question remained above my desk. When the room filled again, I looked at the names before the total. I had to discover who had taken a seat and whose schedule had prevented them from attending.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| بِقَائِمَةِ الْحُضُورِ | of the attendance list |
| الْإِقْبَالَ | attendance; participation |
| تَتَبَّعَ | followed; traced |
| خَالِيًا | empty |
| أَلْحَقْتُهَا | I attached it |
| عُزُوفًا | a loss of interest |
| أَوْحَتْ | suggested; implied |
| خَانَةً | a space; field |
| التَّجْرِيبِيَّ | the trial; experimental |
| الْمَجْمُوعِ | the total |
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 count can remain correct while the summary implies more than it establishes.
- Track how an unanswered request becomes a concrete trial rather than a promised outcome.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كُنْتُ فَخُورًا
Use kuntu with an accusative adjective to locate the narrator’s initial pride in the past.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْمُشَارِكِ الَّذِي حَضَرَ أَوَّلَ لِقَاءَيْنِ
Follow singular alladhi and its clause to identify the participant Rami.
