A notebook arrives in Omar’s hands. Sami’s gift assigns him the rescue until a notice reveals a different finder and a different request.
01Read the Arabic story
رَدُّ الْمَعْرُوفِ لِغَيْرِ صَاحِبِهِ
ضَاعَ دَفْتَرُ سَامِي الْأَزْرَقُ وَفِيهِ مُسَوَّدَاتُ قِصَصِهِ. بَعْدَ يَوْمَيْنِ، أَعَادَهُ عُمَرُ وَقَالَ: وَجَدْنَاهُ. سَأَلَ سَامِي إِنْ كَانَتِ الصَّفَحَاتُ بَاقِيَةً، وَنَسِيَ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ مَنْ هُمْ. كَانَ عُمَرُ مُبْتَسِمًا، وَكَانَ الدَّفْتَرُ جَافًّا. فِي الْمَسَاءِ، وَضَعَ سَامِي كِتَابًا فِي كِيسِ هَدِيَّةٍ، وَكَتَبَ عَلَى بَطَاقَةٍ أَنَّ صَدِيقَهُ أَنْقَذَ قِصَصَهُ مِنَ الضَّيَاعِ.
عِنْدَ تَسْلِيمِ الْهَدِيَّةِ، وَجَدَ فِي مَدْخَلِ بِنَايَةِ عُمَرَ إِعْلَانًا عَنْ دَفْتَرٍ أَزْرَقَ. حَمَلَ الْإِعْلَانُ اسْمَ هُدَى وَرَقْمَ هَاتِفِهَا. قَالَ عُمَرُ إِنَّهَا وَجَدَتِ الدَّفْتَرَ عَلَى مَقْعَدٍ وَنَشَرَتِ الْإِعْلَانَ، وَإِنَّهُ تَعَرَّفَ إِلَى وَصْفِهِ وَذَهَبَ لِيَأْخُذَهُ. سَأَلَ سَامِي عَنْ قَوْلِهِ «وَجَدْنَاهُ». أَجَابَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَعْنِي أَنَّ الدَّفْتَرَ وَصَلَ إِلَيْهِمْ.
لَمْ يَحْسِمْ سَامِي إِنْ كَانَ الْجَمْعُ اِخْتِصَارًا أَمْ طَرِيقَةً لِتَوْسِيعِ نَصِيبِ عُمَرَ. كَانَ صَدِيقُهُ قَدْ حَمَلَ الدَّفْتَرَ إِلَى سَامِي، وَلَمْ تَصِرْ هَذِهِ الْخُطْوَةُ عَدَمًا. أَبْقَى الْكِيسَ فِي يَدِ عُمَرَ، وَقَالَ إِنَّهُ يَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى إِيصَالِهِ. لَكِنَّهُ أَخَذَ الْبَطَاقَةَ لِيُغَيِّرَ عِبَارَتَهَا. لَمْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ الْهَدِيَّةَ عُقُوبَةً أَوْ أَنْ يُبْقِيَ عِبَارَةً تُخْفِي هُدَى.
اِتَّصَلَ بِهُدَى، وَسَأَلَهَا عَنْ قِصَّةِ الْعُثُورِ عَلَيْهِ. قَالَتْ إِنَّهَا أَبْعَدَتْهُ عَنِ الْمَطَرِ وَاحْتَفَظَتْ بِهِ عِنْدَ الْحَارِسِ حَتَّى يَظْهَرَ صَاحِبُهُ. كَانَتْ تُرِيدُ حَذْفَ رَقْمِهَا مِنَ الْإِعْلَانِ الَّذِي تَدَاوَلَهُ الْجِيرَانُ. سَأَلَهَا إِنْ كَانَ يُمْكِنُهُ أَنْ يَذْكُرَ اسْمَهَا فِي شُكْرٍ عَلَنِيٍّ، فَوَافَقَتْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ دُونَ الرَّقْمِ. نَشَرَ مَا فَعَلَتْهُ وَمَا فَعَلَهُ عُمَرُ، وَطَلَبَ إِزَالَةَ الْإِعْلَانِ.
فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي، حَمَلَ إِلَى عُمَرَ بَطَاقَةً تَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْعَوْدَةِ بِالدَّفْتَرِ. سَأَلَهُ عُمَرُ إِنْ كَانَ الْكِتَابُ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْإِعَادَةِ، فَقَالَ لَا. أَمَّا هُدَى، فَلَمْ يَخْتَرْ لَهَا كِتَابًا مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ ذَوْقَهَا. سَأَلَهَا إِنْ بَقِيَتْ نُسَخٌ مِنَ الْإِعْلَانِ. أَرْسَلَتْ مَوْضِعَ نُسْخَةٍ أَخِيرَةٍ، فَخَرَجَ وَالدَّفْتَرُ فِي حَقِيبَتِهِ. هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ كَانَ يَعْرِفُ مَنْ طَلَبَ مِنْهُ الْخُرُوجَ.
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Sami’s blue notebook went missing, with drafts of his stories in it. Two days later, Omar returned it and said, “We found it.” Sami asked whether the pages were still there and forgot to ask who “we” were. Omar was smiling, and the notebook was dry. That evening, Sami put a book in a gift bag and wrote on a card that his friend had saved his stories from being lost.
When delivering the gift, he found a notice about a blue notebook in the entrance to Omar’s building. The notice bore Huda’s name and phone number. Omar said she had found the notebook on a bench and posted the notice, and that he had recognised its description and gone to collect it. Sami asked about his words “We found it.” He answered that he had meant the notebook had reached them.
Sami did not decide whether the plural was shorthand or a way of expanding Omar’s share of the credit. His friend had carried the notebook to Sami, and that step had not become nothing. He left the bag in Omar’s hand and said he thanked him for delivering it. But he took the card to change its wording. He did not want to turn the gift into a punishment or retain wording that concealed Huda.
He called Huda and asked about how she had found it. She said she had moved it out of the rain and kept it with the caretaker until its owner appeared. She wanted her number removed from the notice the neighbours had circulated. He asked whether he could mention her name in a public thank-you, and she agreed to that without the number. He posted what she had done and what Omar had done, and asked for the notice to be removed.
The next day, he brought Omar a card thanking him for returning with the notebook. Omar asked whether the book needed returning, and he said no. As for Huda, he did not choose a book for her without knowing her taste. He asked whether copies of the notice remained. She sent the location of one last copy, and he went out with the notebook in his bag. This time he knew who had asked him to go out.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مُسَوَّدَاتُ | drafts of |
| كِيسِ هَدِيَّةٍ | a gift bag |
| بَطَاقَةٍ | a card |
| اِخْتِصَارًا | shorthand; an abbreviation |
| نَصِيبِ | the share of |
| إِيصَالِهِ | delivering it |
| عُقُوبَةً | a punishment |
| الْعُثُورِ عَلَيْهِ | finding it |
| تَدَاوَلَهُ | circulated it |
| ذَوْقَهَا | her taste |
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
- Uncertain intentions do not erase the distinct actions that the story can attribute.
- Correcting public credit and asking what a helper needs make different forms of thanks possible.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
وَكَانَ الدَّفْتَرُ جَافًّا
Read the notebook as kana’s nominative noun and jaffan as the accusative past-state predicate.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يَحْسِمْ سَامِي
Lam gives past negative meaning while yahsim keeps a sound-final jussive ending.
