A grand unveiling invites interpretation; a second empty space needs a different explanation.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمَعْرِضُ الَّذِي لَمْ يَكُنْ خَلْفَ سِتَارِهِ شَيْءٌ
فَتَحَتْ مَرْيَمُ السِّتَارَ الْكَبِيرَ فِي مَعْرِضِ «مَا يَبْقَى»، فَظَهَرَتْ مِنَصَّةٌ خَالِيَةٌ. كَانَ السِّتَارُ ثَقِيلًا، وَاحْتَاجَ فَتْحُهُ إِلَى مُسَاعِدَيْنِ، فَبَدَا الْفَرَاغُ أَكْثَرَ فَخَامَةً مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَتْ. سَمِعَتْ زَائِرًا يَهْمِسُ: «لَهُ مَعْنًى». وَسَمِعَتْ آخَرَ يَسْأَلُ إِنْ كَانُوا قَدْ نَسُوا الْقِطْعَةَ. كَانَتْ هِيَ مُنَظِّمَةَ الْمَعْرِضِ، وَكَانَ الْفَرَاغُ عَلَى الْمِنَصَّةِ مَقْصُودًا مُنْذُ الْبِدَايَةِ.
كَانَ الْعَمَلُ يَدْعُو الزَّائِرَ إِلَى تَخَيُّلِ شَيْءٍ احْتَفَظَ بِمَكَانِهِ بَعْدَ رَحِيلِهِ. وَضَعَتْ مَرْيَمُ هَذَا الشَّرْحَ بِجَانِبِ الْمِنَصَّةِ، دُونَ أَنْ تَطْلُبَ مِنَ الزُّوَّارِ الْإِعْجَابَ بِالْعَمَلِ. وَلَكِنَّ الطَّاوِلَةَ خَالِيَةٌ أَيْضًا، وَهِيَ طَاوِلَةٌ جَانِبِيَّةٌ كَانَتْ قَدْ خَصَّصَتْهَا لِوِعَاءٍ خَزَفِيٍّ. وَهَذَا الْوِعَاءُ، بِخِلَافِ شَيْءِ الْمِنَصَّةِ الْمُتَخَيَّلِ، كَانَ مَوْعُودًا بِهِ فِي الدَّعْوَةِ، وَلَمْ يَصِلْ.
مَرَّ أَمَامَ الطَّاوِلَةِ الزَّائِرُ الَّذِي رَأَى مَعْنًى فِي الْمِنَصَّةِ، فَقَالَ: «إِذَنْ هُنَا غِيَابٌ ثَانٍ». تَرَدَّدَتْ مَرْيَمُ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُجِيبَ. كَانَ تَفْسِيرُهُ أَلْطَفَ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ إِنَّ الْوِعَاءَ تَأَخَّرَ، وَأَرَاحَهَا لِثَانِيَةٍ. ثُمَّ تَذَكَّرَتْ أَنَّ ضَيْفَةً قَطَعَتْ مَسَافَةً طَوِيلَةً لِتَرَى الْوِعَاءَ تَحْدِيدًا. وَقَالَتْ: «الْمِنَصَّةُ عَمَلٌ مُكْتَمِلٌ؛ أَمَّا هُنَا فَنَنْتَظِرُ قِطْعَةً حَقِيقِيَّةً». لَمْ يَسْحَبِ الزَّائِرُ تَفْسِيرَهُ، لَكِنَّهُ نَظَرَ إِلَى الدَّعْوَةِ.
اِتَّصَلَتْ بِصَانِعَةِ الْوِعَاءِ، فَعَلِمَتْ أَنَّهُ مَا زَالَ فِي الْوَرْشَةِ. لَمْ يَكُنْ مَوْعِدُ وُصُولِهِ مُؤَكَّدًا. كَتَبَتْ عَلَى بَطَاقَةِ الطَّاوِلَةِ: «الْوِعَاءُ لَمْ يَصِلْ؛ سَنُحَدِّثُ هَذِهِ الْبَطَاقَةَ عِنْدَ وُصُولِهِ». وَعَلَى بَطَاقَةِ الْمِنَصَّةِ أَبْقَتْ شَرْحَ الْعَمَلِ. اِقْتَرَحَ مُسَاعِدُهَا إِعَادَةَ إِغْلَاقِ السِّتَارِ حَتَّى يَصِلَ الْوِعَاءُ، فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَى أَنَّ الْمِنَصَّةَ لَا تَنْتَظِرُهُ. تَرَكَتِ الْمَكَانَيْنِ مَكْشُوفَيْنِ، بِبِطَاقَتَيْنِ مُخْتَلِفَتَيْنِ.
جَلَسَتِ الضَّيْفَةُ قُرْبَ الطَّاوِلَةِ، وَسَأَلَتْ عَنْ مَوْعِدٍ آخَرَ لِلزِّيَارَةِ. وَعَدَتْهَا مَرْيَمُ بِمُكَالَمَةٍ عِنْدَ وُصُولِ الْوِعَاءِ، لَا بِسَاعَةٍ لَا تَعْرِفُهَا. وَعِنْدَ الْمِنَصَّةِ ظَلَّ زَائِرٌ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْفَرَاغِ، بَيْنَمَا قَرَأَ آخَرُ الشَّرْحَ وَانْصَرَفَ. أَرَادَ مُسَاعِدُهَا أَنْ يَعُدَّ الْوَاقِفَ مُعْجَبًا؛ سَأَلَتْهُ مَرْيَمُ إِنْ سَأَلَ الزَّائِرَ، ثُمَّ عَادَتْ إِلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Maryam opened the large curtain at the exhibition 'What Remains', revealing an empty platform. The curtain was heavy and opening it had required two assistants, so the emptiness seemed grander than she had expected. She heard one visitor whisper, 'It has a meaning,' and another ask whether they had forgotten the piece. She was the exhibition organiser, and the emptiness on the platform had been intentional from the start.
The work invited the visitor to imagine something whose place remained after it had gone. Maryam put this explanation beside the platform without asking visitors to admire the work. But the table was empty too: a side table she had reserved for a ceramic bowl. This bowl, unlike the imagined object on the platform, had been promised in the invitation and had not arrived.
The visitor who had found meaning in the platform passed the table and said, 'So there is a second absence here.' Maryam hesitated before replying. His interpretation was kinder than saying that the bowl was late, and it relieved her for a second. Then she remembered a guest who had travelled a long way specifically to see the bowl. 'The platform is a finished work; here, though, we are waiting for a real piece,' she said. The visitor did not withdraw his interpretation, but he looked at the invitation.
She called the maker of the bowl and learnt that it was still in the workshop. Its arrival time was not confirmed. On the table's card she wrote, 'The bowl has not arrived; we will update this card when it arrives.' She kept the work's explanation on the platform's card. Her assistant suggested closing the curtain again until the bowl arrived, so she pointed out that the platform was not waiting for it. She left both places exposed, with two different cards.
The guest sat near the table and asked about another time to visit. Maryam promised her a call when the bowl arrived, rather than an hour she did not know. At the platform one visitor kept looking at the emptiness while another read the explanation and left. Her assistant wanted to count the standing visitor as an admirer. Maryam asked whether he had asked him, then returned to the table.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مِنَصَّةٌ | a platform |
| خَالِيَةٌ | empty |
| فَخَامَةً | grandeur |
| يَهْمِسُ | whispers |
| مَقْصُودًا | intentional |
| خَصَّصَتْهَا | she had reserved it |
| لِوِعَاءٍ خَزَفِيٍّ | for a ceramic bowl |
| غِيَابٌ | an absence |
| مَكْشُوفَيْنِ | exposed |
| بِمُكَالَمَةٍ | with a phone call |
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
- Two empty spaces can have different causes and different obligations to visitors.
- A visitor’s attention alone does not establish admiration.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَ السِّتَارُ ثَقِيلًا
Kana places the curtain’s description in the past: al-sitaru is nominative and thaqilan is its accusative predicate.
Lakinna and Lakin in Arabic: Two Patterns for But
وَلَكِنَّ الطَّاوِلَةَ خَالِيَةٌ أَيْضًا
Lakinna adds a contrasting fact: al-tawilata is its accusative noun and khaliyatun remains a nominative predicate.
