A modest promise sounds suspicious; a stopped clock tests what the promise actually covers.
01Read the Arabic story
الْإِعْلَانُ الصَّادِقُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُصَدِّقْهُ أَحَدٌ
عَلَّقْتُ إِعْلَانِي الْجَدِيدَ عَلَى بَابِ وَرْشَةِ السَّاعَاتِ: «نَفْحَصُ قَبْلَ أَنْ نَعِدَ، وَقَدْ تَعُودُ السَّاعَةُ كَمَا جَاءَتْ». وَكَتَبْتُ أُجْرَةَ الْفَحْصِ تَحْتَهُ، بِحُرُوفٍ تُقْرَأُ مِنَ الرَّصِيفِ. كُنْتُ مُتَفَائِلَةً بِهَذَا الْوُضُوحِ، لَكِنَّ الْجِيرَانَ تَوَقَّفُوا عِنْدَ الْجُمْلَةِ الْأُولَى، كَأَنَّهُمْ يُفَتِّشُونَ عَنِ الْكَلِمَةِ الَّتِي أَخْفَيْتُهَا بَيْنَ كَلِمَاتِي.
قَالَتْ جَارَتِي إِنَّ مَنْ يُعْلِنُ احْتِمَالَ الْفَشَلِ لَا بُدَّ أَنْ يَحْتَفِظَ بِحِيلَةٍ أُخْرَى. لَمْ أَرْفَعِ السِّعْرَ مَعَ الْإِعْلَانِ، فَالْفَحْصُ هُوَ الْعَمَلُ الَّذِي أَعْرِفُ أَنَّنِي أَسْتَطِيعُ إِنْجَازَهُ بِأَدَوَاتِي الْمَوْجُودَةِ حَتَّى إِذَا تَعَذَّرَ الْإِصْلَاحُ. تَذَكَّرْتُ لَافِتَةً قَدِيمَةً فِي الشَّارِعِ تَعِدُ بِإِصْلَاحِ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، وَالْأَعْذَارَ الَّتِي كَانَ زَبَائِنُهَا يَحْمِلُونَهَا بَعْدَ الدَّفْعِ. لَمْ أَسْمَعْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ كَلِمَةَ تَصْدِيقٍ؛ حَتَّى صَرَاحَتِي بَدَتْ لَهُمْ مُقَدِّمَةً لِخُدْعَةٍ أَذْكَى، لَا لِوَعْدٍ أَصْغَرَ.
فِي الْمَسَاءِ جَاءَ فَوْزِي بِسَاعَةِ وَالِدِهِ. قَالَ إِنَّ مُصْلِحًا آخَرَ أَعَادَهَا «مَضْمُونَةً»، فَتَوَقَّفَتْ فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي. وَضَعْتُهَا أَمَامَهُ، وَشَرَحْتُ أُجْرَةَ الْفَحْصِ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَلْمَسَ الْغِطَاءَ. سَأَلَنِي إِنْ كُنْتُ أَتَوَقَّعُ إِصْلَاحَهَا، فَقُلْتُ إِنِّي لَمْ أَرَ دَاخِلَهَا بَعْدُ. أَوْمَأَ، وَلَكِنَّهُ أَبْقَى يَدَهُ قَرِيبَةً مِنَ السَّاعَةِ.
كَانَ التُّرْسُ الَّذِي أَخْرَجْتُهُ يَفْتَقِدُ سِنًّا، وَلَمْ تَكُنِ الْقِطْعَةُ الْبَدِيلَةُ فِي دُرْجِي. أَرَيْتُهُ مَوْضِعَ الْكَسْرِ، ثُمَّ أَدَرْتُ التُّرْسَ بِبُطْءٍ حَتَّى بَلَغَ الْفَرَاغَ. قَالَ: «إِذَنْ لَا تَعْمَلُ؟» قُلْتُ: «لَيْسَ الْفَحْصُ وَعْدًا بِإِصْلَاحٍ. أَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ أَبْحَثَ عَنِ الْقِطْعَةِ، لَا أَنْ أَضْمَنَ الْعُثُورَ عَلَيْهَا». طَلَبَ أَنْ أُعِيدَ الْغِطَاءَ.
دَفَعَ فَوْزِي الْأُجْرَةَ، وَسَأَلَ عَنْ مَوْعِدٍ لِفَحْصِ سَاعَةٍ أُخْرَى. حَجَزْتُ لَهُ الثُّلَاثَاءَ؛ لَا أَفْحَصُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ سَاعَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ يَوْمِيًّا. لَمْ أَسْأَلْهُ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ صَدَّقَ إِعْلَانِي، وَلَمْ أَرَ الْجِيرَانَ يَعُودُونَ. أَعَدْتُ غِطَاءَهَا كَمَا طَلَبَ، ثُمَّ وَضَعْتُ السَّاعَةَ السَّاكِنَةَ فِي عُلْبَتِهِ، وَبَقِيَ الْإِعْلَانُ فَوْقَ الْبَابِ يَعِدُ بِالْفَحْصِ فَقَطْ.
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I hung my new advertisement on the clock workshop door: “We inspect before we promise, and your clock may come back just as it arrived.” Below it I wrote the inspection fee, in lettering readable from the pavement. I was optimistic about this clarity, but the neighbours stopped at the first sentence, as though searching for the word I had concealed among my words.
My neighbour said anyone who advertised the possibility of failure must have another trick in reserve. I had not raised the price with the advertisement: inspection was the work I knew I could complete with the tools I had, even if repair proved impossible. I remembered an old sign in the street promising to repair everything, and the excuses its customers carried away after paying. I heard no word of belief from anyone; even my frankness seemed to them the prelude to a cleverer deception, rather than a smaller promise.
In the evening Fawzi brought his father’s clock. He said another repairer had returned it “guaranteed,” and it had stopped the next day. I placed it in front of him and explained the inspection fee before touching the cover. He asked whether I expected to repair it, and I said I had not yet seen inside it. He nodded, but kept his hand close to the clock.
The gear I took out was missing a tooth, and the replacement part was not in my drawer. I showed him the break, then turned the gear slowly until it reached the gap. “So it doesn’t work?” he said. “An inspection is not a promise of repair,” I said. “I can look for the part; I cannot guarantee finding it.” He asked me to put the cover back.
Fawzi paid the fee and asked for an appointment to inspect another clock. I booked him in for Tuesday; I inspect no more than one clock a day. I did not ask whether he now believed my advertisement, and I did not see the neighbours return. I replaced the cover as he had asked, then put the motionless clock in his box. Above the door, the advertisement still promised only an inspection.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| إِعْلَانِي | my advertisement |
| وَرْشَةِ | workshop |
| أُجْرَةَ الْفَحْصِ | the inspection fee |
| مُتَفَائِلَةً | optimistic; describing the female narrator |
| بِحِيلَةٍ | with a trick |
| صَرَاحَتِي | my frankness |
| مَضْمُونَةً | guaranteed; describing the clock |
| التُّرْسُ | the gear |
| بِبُطْءٍ | slowly |
| السَّاكِنَةَ | motionless; describing the clock |
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
- An action can suggest a change in trust without proving what every observer believes.
- The inspection fee pays for a defined service; the story keeps that service separate from a successful repair.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Laysa in Arabic: Is Not and Is Not Here
لَيْسَ الْفَحْصُ وَعْدًا
Laysa denies an identity here: al-fahsu is nominative and waadan is its accusative predicate.
Arabic Object Pronouns: How to Say He Opened It and I Opened It
وَضَعْتُهَا أَمَامَهُ
Tu identifies the first-person doer; the attached ha refers to the feminine clock as the object.
