A family rival translates letters for an exhibition. Two Arabic renderings expose choices that neither his history nor the family’s memory can settle.
01Read the Arabic story
الرَّسَائِلُ الَّتِي تَرْجَمَهَا مُنَافِسٌ قَدِيمٌ لِعَمِّي
كَانَ فَارِسٌ يَعْرِفُ اللُّغَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ بِهَا عَمِّي رَسَائِلَهُ مِنَ الْخَارِجِ. طَلَبْتُ مِنْهُ تَرْجَمَتَهَا لِمَعْرِضٍ عَائِلِيٍّ، مَعَ أَنَّهُ نَافَسَ عَمِّي قَدِيمًا عَلَى وَرْشَةٍ. قَالَ أَبِي: سَيَقْرَأُهَا كَمَا يَشَاءُ. أَجَبْتُ بِأَنَّ الْكَلِمَاتِ مَوْجُودَةٌ، كَأَنَّنِي أَمْلِكُ مِيزَانًا لَهَا، وَأَنَا لَا أَسْتَطِيعُ قِرَاءَتَهَا. وَضَعْتُ الْأَظْرِفَ عَلَى طَاوِلَتِهِ، وَفَتَحْتُ وَاحِدًا بِنَفْسِي، وَجَلَسْتُ أُرَاقِبُ قَلَمَهُ.
قَرَأَ لِي صِيَاغَةً عَرَبِيَّةً لِجُمْلَةٍ إِلَى جَدِّي: أَخِيرًا وَجَدْتُمْ وَقْتًا لِلرَّدِّ. سَمِعْتُ الْعِتَابَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُكْمِلَ. سَأَلْتُهُ إِنْ كَانَتْ كَلِمَةُ «أَخِيرًا» فِي الرِّسَالَةِ. قَالَ إِنَّ التَّرْكِيبَ يُوَحِي بِهَا، ثُمَّ كَتَبَ قِرَاءَةً أَقْرَبَ إِلَى لَفْظِهِ: يَسُرُّنِي أَنَّكُمْ وَجَدْتُمْ وَقْتًا. كَانَتِ الْجُمْلَةُ مُهَذَّبَةً، لَكِنَّ التَّهَكُّمَ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ صَوْتِي وَأَنَا أَقْرَؤُهَا.
أَشَارَ فَارِسٌ إِلَى شُكْرٍ عَلَى إِرْسَالِ قِطْعَةِ غِيَارٍ فِي السَّطْرِ التَّالِي. قُلْتُ إِنَّ الشُّكْرَ يَجْعَلُهَا مُجَامَلَةً، فَسَأَلَ عَنْ رَدِّ جَدِّي السَّابِقِ. لَمْ أَجِدْهُ فِي الْأَظْرِفِ. كَتَبَ بِقَلَمِهِ قُرْبَ الصِّيَاغَتَيْنِ: النَّبْرَةُ غَيْرُ مَحْسُومَةٍ. أَزْعَجَتْنِي الْمُلَاحَظَةُ؛ كُنْتُ أُرِيدُ دَلِيلًا عَلَى سُوءِ تَرْجَمَتِهِ، وَأَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ لِأَقْرَأَ الدَّلِيلَ نَفْسَهُ الَّذِي أَطْلُبُهُ مِنْهُ.
فِي الْبَيْتِ، قَرَأْتُ الصِّيَاغَتَيْنِ لِأَبِي دُونَ ذِكْرِ صَاحِبِهِمَا. اِخْتَارَ الثَّانِيَةَ لِأَنَّ عَمِّي، فِي ذَاكِرَتِهِ، لَمْ يُوَجِّهْ لِجَدِّي عِتَابًا. حِينَ ذَكَرْتُ فَارِسًا، سَأَلَ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ حَذَفَ شَيْئًا. أَرَيْتُهُ شُكْرَ عَمِّي وَمُلَاحَظَةَ الْقَلَمِ. لَمْ يَتَرَاجَعْ عَنْ شَكِّهِ، وَأَنَا لَمْ أَعُدْ أَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ أَجْعَلَ شَكَّهُ تَقْرِيرًا عَنْ كُلِّ سَطْرٍ.
وَضَعْتُ الصِّيَاغَتَيْنِ تَحْتَ صُورَةِ الرِّسَالَةِ، وَكَتَبْتُ اسْمَ فَارِسٍ بِصِفَتِهِ مُتَرْجِمًا، لَا شَاهِدًا عَلَى قَصْدِ عَمِّي. أَبْقَيْتُ مُلَاحَظَتَهُ، وَطَلَبْتُ مِنَ الْأَقَارِبِ الْبَحْثَ عَنِ الرَّدِّ الْمَفْقُودِ. لَمْ أَضَعْ قِصَّةَ الْوَرْشَةِ عُنْوَانًا لِلرِّسَالَةِ. وَحِينَ سَأَلَنِي زَائِرٌ عَنِ الْعِتَابِ، قَرَأْتُ لَهُ الْجُمْلَتَيْنِ؛ لَمْ أَعُدْ أَسْتَطِيعُ إِخْفَاءَ اِخْتِيَارِي خَلْفَ اسْمِ الْمُتَرْجِمِ.
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Faris knew the language in which my uncle had written his letters from abroad. I asked him to translate them for a family exhibition, although he had once competed with my uncle for a workshop. My father said, “He will read them however he wants.” I replied that the words were there, as if I had a scale for weighing them, when I could not read them myself. I placed the envelopes on his table, opened one myself and sat watching his pencil.
He read me an Arabic rendering of a sentence addressed to my grandfather: “At last you found time to reply.” I heard the reproach before he finished. I asked whether the word “at last” was in the letter. He said the construction suggested it, then wrote a reading closer to its wording: “I am pleased that you found time.” The sentence was courteous, but the sarcasm did not leave my voice as I read it.
Faris pointed to thanks for sending a spare part in the next line. I said the thanks made it a courtesy, and he asked about my grandfather’s previous reply. I did not find it among the envelopes. Beside the two renderings he wrote in pencil: “Tone unresolved.” The note bothered me; I wanted evidence that his translation was poor, and needed him to read the very evidence I was asking him for.
At home, I read both renderings to my father without naming their author. He chose the second because, in his memory, my uncle had never reproached my grandfather. When I mentioned Faris, he asked whether he had omitted anything. I showed him my uncle’s thanks and the pencil note. He did not abandon his suspicion, and I could no longer turn that suspicion into a report on every line.
I put both renderings below an image of the letter and named Faris as its translator, not as a witness to my uncle’s intention. I kept his note and asked the relatives to look for the missing reply. I did not make the workshop story the letter’s heading. When a visitor asked me about the reproach, I read him both sentences; I could no longer hide my own choice behind the translator’s name.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْأَظْرِفَ | the envelopes |
| الْعِتَابَ | the reproach |
| التَّرْكِيبَ | the construction; phrasing |
| لَفْظِهِ | its wording |
| التَّهَكُّمَ | the sarcasm |
| قِطْعَةِ غِيَارٍ | a spare part |
| النَّبْرَةُ | the tone |
| تَحْتَ | below; beneath |
| بِصِفَتِهِ | in his capacity as |
| خَلْفَ | behind |
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 rival’s identity raises a concern but does not by itself establish distortion.
- Showing two renderings preserves the translator’s contribution while making interpretive choices visible.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
اللُّغَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ بِهَا عَمِّي
Allati connects the feminine singular language to the clause describing the uncle’s use of it.
Arabic Prepositions with Pronouns: To Me, On Me and With Us
وَأَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ
Ilayhi means to him here, pointing to the translator on whom the narrator depends.
