Compliments gather beside a basket of gifts. A guest’s quiet request makes the owner listen to a door from the pillow.
01Read the Arabic story
دَفْتَرُ الضُّيُوفِ الْمَلِيءُ بِالْمَجَامَلَاتِ الْحَذِرَةِ
كُنْتُ أَقْرَأُ دَفْتَرَ ضُيُوفِ بَيْتِي بَعْدَ كُلِّ مُغَادَرَةٍ، وَأُحِبُّ أَنْ أَجِدَ خَطًّا جَدِيدًا يَشْكُرُ الْفُطُورَ وَالْحَدِيقَةَ. أَضَعُ الدَّفْتَرَ قُرْبَ بَابِ الْخُرُوجِ، بِجَانِبِ سَلَّةِ أَوْعِيَةِ مُرَبَّى اللَّيْمُونِ يَأْخُذُ مِنْهَا الضَّيْفُ هَدِيَّتَهُ. كَانَتْ عِبَارَةُ «إِقَامَةٌ مُرِيحَةٌ» تَظْهَرُ أَحْيَانًا؛ أَمَّا فِي ذَلِكَ الشَّهْرِ فَكَثُرَ ذِكْرُ الْفُطُورِ. عَدَدْتُ ذَلِكَ تَشْجِيعًا لِوَصْفَةِ الْمُرَبَّى الْجَدِيدَةِ الَّتِي جَرَّبْتُهَا.
قَبْلَ أَنْ تُغَادِرَ نَجْوَى، وَضَعَتْ مِفْتَاحَهَا عَلَى مَكْتَبِي وَسَأَلَتْنِي بِصَوْتٍ خَافِتٍ عَنْ مِفْصَلِ بَابِ الْغُرْفَةِ الْعُلْوِيَّةِ. كَانَ الْبَابُ مُزْعِجًا؛ يُوقِظُهَا صَرِيرُهُ إِذَا دَخَلَتْ أُخْتُهَا مُتَأَخِّرَةً. قَالَتْ إِنَّ الْفُطُورَ رَائِعٌ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَتْ إِنْ كَانَ يُمْكِنُ إِصْلَاحُ الْمِفْصَلِ قَبْلَ زِيَارَتِهَا الْقَادِمَةِ. نَظَرْتُ إِلَى الدَّفْتَرِ: كَانَتْ قَدْ كَتَبَتْ عَنْ الْفُطُورِ وَوَقَّعَتْ اسْمَهَا.
سَأَلْتُهَا لِمَاذَا لَمْ تَكْتُبِ الْمُلَاحَظَةَ هُنَاكَ. نَظَرَتْ إِلَى السَّلَّةِ وَقَالَتْ إِنَّهَا لَمْ تُرِدْ أَنْ تَتْرُكَ شَكْوَى لِيَقْرَأَهَا ضَيْفٌ بَعْدَهَا وَهِيَ تَتَسَلَّمُ هَدِيَّةً مِنِّي. لَمْ تَقُلْ إِنَّنِي مَنَعْتُهَا، وَلَمْ أَكُنْ قَدْ فَكَّرْتُ فِي السَّلَّةِ بَوَصْفِهَا جُزْءًا مِنَ الْجُمْلَةِ الْمَكْتُوبَةِ. رَفَعَتْ وِعَاءً وَسَأَلَتْ عَنْ كَمِّيَّةِ السُّكَّرِ؛ أَجَبْتُهَا وَكَتَبْتُ رَقْمَ الْغُرْفَةِ عَلَى وَرَقَةٍ.
فِي الْمَسَاءِ، فَتَحْتُ الْبَابَ وَأَغْلَقْتُهُ بِبُطْءٍ. كَانَ الصَّوْتُ خَفِيفًا مِنَ الْمَمَرِّ، وَأَشَدَّ عِنْدَ الْوِسَادَةِ. اِسْتَدْعَيْتُ مَنْ يُصْلِحُهُ، وَتَرَكْتُ فِي الْغُرْفَةِ بِطَاقَةً وَظَرْفًا لِمُلَاحَظَاتٍ خَاصَّةٍ. نَقَلْتُ سَلَّةَ الْهَدَايَا إِلَى الْمَطْبَخِ، وَأَبْقَيْتُ الدَّفْتَرَ عِنْدَ الْبَابِ. لَمْ أَسْأَلْ نَجْوَى أَنْ تُعَدِّلَ مَا كَتَبَتْهُ؛ لَمْ يَكُنْ طَعْمُ الْمُرَبَّى هُوَ مَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى إِصْلَاحٍ.
عَادَتْ نَجْوَى بَعْدَ أَسَابِيعَ، وَقَالَتْ إِنَّ أُخْتَهَا دَخَلَتْ هَذِهِ الْمَرَّةَ دُونَ أَنْ تُوقِظَهَا. فِي الدَّفْتَرِ، كَتَبَتْ أَنَّ خُبْزَ الْفُطُورِ يَسْتَحِقُّ زِيَارَةً أُخْرَى، ثُمَّ وَقَّعَتْ. لَمْ أُضِفْ إِلَى جُمْلَتِهَا وَصْفًا لِلْغُرْفَةِ، وَتَرَكْتُ الظَّرْفَ فِي مَكَانِهِ. حِينَ جَهَّزْتُ الْغُرْفَةَ لِلضَّيْفِ التَّالِي، جَرَّبْتُ الْبَابَ مِنَ الدَّاخِلِ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَنْزِلَ لِأَمْلَأَ الْقَلَمَ الْمَوْضُوعَ بِجَانِبِ الدَّفْتَرِ.
Show English translationHide English translation
I used to read my guesthouse’s visitor book after every departure and liked finding a new hand thanking me for the breakfast and garden. I kept the book near the exit, beside a basket of containers of lemon jam from which each guest took a gift. The phrase “a comfortable stay” sometimes appeared; that month, however, breakfast was mentioned more often. I took this as encouragement for the new jam recipe I had tried.
Before Najwa left, she put her key on my desk and quietly asked about the hinge on the upstairs room’s door. The door was a nuisance: its squeak woke her when her sister came in late. She said the breakfast was wonderful, then asked whether the hinge could be repaired before her next visit. I looked at the book: she had written about breakfast and signed her name.
I asked why she had not written the comment there. She looked at the basket and said she had not wanted to leave a complaint for the next guest to read while receiving a gift from me. She did not say I had forbidden it, and I had not thought of the basket as part of the written sentence. She lifted a container and asked about the amount of sugar; I answered and wrote the room number on a sheet of paper.
That evening I slowly opened and closed the door. The sound was faint from the corridor and louder at the pillow. I called someone to repair it and left a card and envelope in the room for private comments. I moved the gift basket to the kitchen and kept the book by the door. I did not ask Najwa to change what she had written: the taste of the jam was not what needed repairing.
Najwa returned weeks later and said that this time her sister had come in without waking her. In the book she wrote that the breakfast bread deserved another visit, then signed. I did not add a description of the room to her sentence, and left the envelope in place. When I prepared the room for the next guest, I tried the door from inside before going downstairs to refill the pen beside the book.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| مُغَادَرَةٍ | a departure |
| مُرَبَّى | jam |
| عَدَدْتُ | I regarded; considered |
| مِفْصَلِ | the hinge of |
| صَرِيرُهُ | its squeaking |
| وِعَاءً | a container |
| الْمَمَرِّ | the corridor |
| الْوِسَادَةِ | the pillow |
| الظَّرْفَ | the envelope |
| وَوَقَّعَتْ | and she signed |
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 sincere compliment about breakfast need not describe the comfort of the room.
- The owner changes the feedback setting and checks the hinge without rewriting the guest’s praise.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَ الْبَابُ مُزْعِجًا
Kana places the nuisance in the past: al-babu stays nominative and muz‘ijan is its accusative predicate.
Arabic Prepositions with Pronouns: To Me, On Me and With Us
هَدِيَّةً مِنِّي
Minni identifies the narrator as the source of the gift; its doubled nun belongs to the complete form.
