A shared writing joke survives a first cafe meeting, but a familiar correspondent’s hesitant voice unsettles the conversation she had imagined.
01Read the Arabic story
الصَّدِيقُ الْإِلِكْتُرُونِيُّ الَّذِي تَكَلَّمَ كَغَرِيبٍ
بَعْدَ عَامَيْنِ مِنَ الْمُرَاسَلَةِ، لَقِيتُ هِشَامًا فِي مَقْهًى. كُنْتُ أَعْرِفُ طَرِيقَتَهُ فِي وَضْعِ الْفَوَاصِلِ، وَأَنْتَظِرُ صَوْتًا بِالدِّقَّةِ نَفْسِهَا. لَكِنَّهُ قَالَ اسْمِي مُتَرَدِّدًا، وَسَأَلَ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ، ثُمَّ سَكَتَ. كُنْتُ مُسْتَعِدَّةً لِحَدِيثٍ يَبْدَأُ مِنْ حَيْثُ تَوَقَّفَتْ رَسَائِلُنَا، كَأَنَّ الطَّاوِلَةَ لَا تَضِيفُ شَيْئًا إِلَى الشَّاشَةِ. سَمِعْتُ مِلْعَقَةً تَضْرِبُ كُوبًا، وَحَاوَلْتُ أَنْ أَتَذَكَّرَ نُكْتَةً كَتَبَهَا.
ذَكَرَ الْبَحْرَ الْبَنَفْسَجِيَّ الَّذِي حَذَفْتُهُ مِنْ قِصَّتِي. كَانَ قَدْ سَأَلَنِي إِنْ كَانَ الْقَارِبُ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى جَرَّةِ حِبْرٍ لِيُبْحِرَ فِيهِ. ضَحِكْتُ؛ تَذَكَّرْتُ السُّؤَالَ، لَا الصَّوْتَ الَّذِي سَمِعْتُهُ الْآنَ. وَحِينَ بَدَأَ جُمْلَةً عَنِ الْقِصَّةِ، أَكْمَلْتُهَا بِالْعِبَارَةِ الَّتِي تَوَقَّعْتُهَا مِنْهُ. قَالَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ يُرِيدُ سُؤَالًا آخَرَ. بَدَتْ مُسَاعَدَتِي أَقْرَبَ إِلَى اِخْتِيَارِ كَلَامِهِ لَهُ.
طَلَبَ الْجُلُوسَ فِي رُكْنٍ أَهْدَأَ، وَحَمَلَ الْكُوبَيْنِ. قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَكْتُبُ جُمْلَتَهُ وَيَمْحُوهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يُرْسِلَهَا، أَمَّا هُنَا فَيَسْمَعُ بَدَايَتَهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْتَارَ نِهَايَتَهَا. لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي أَنْ أَتَوَقَّفَ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ؛ طَلَبَ وَقْتًا لِلتَّفْكِيرِ. وَضَعْتُ هَاتِفِي مَقْلُوبًا. لَمْ أُرِدْ أَنْ أَعُودَ إِلَى الرَّسَائِلِ لِأَجِدَ فِيهَا جَوَابًا يَنْبَغِي لَهُ أَنْ يَقُولَهُ.
سَأَلَنِي لِمَاذَا حَذَفْتُ لَوْنَ الْبَحْرِ. كُنْتُ قَدْ كَتَبْتُ لَهُ أَنَّ الْوَصْفَ لَا يَنَاسِبُ الْحَدَثَ. أَمَامَهُ، تَرَدَّدْتُ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَقُولَ إِنَّ تَعْلِيقَ قَارِئَةٍ أَخْرَى أَخَافَنِي أَيْضًا. تَوَقَّعْتُ تَعْلِيقًا ظَرِيفًا، لَكِنَّهُ سَأَلَ إِنْ كُنْتُ أُرِيدُ اِسْتِعَادَتَهُ. نَظَرْتُ إِلَى الْكُوبِ. لَمْ يَكُنِ السُّؤَالُ غَرِيبًا، وَإِنَّمَا احْتَجْتُ إِلَى وَقْتٍ لِجَوَابٍ لَمْ أُعِدَّهُ سَابِقًا.
اِتَّفَقْنَا عَلَى تَبَادُلِ الْفَصْلِ الْجَدِيدِ، وَتَرَكْنَا مَوْعِدَ اللِّقَاءِ مَفْتُوحًا. لَمْ يَصِرْ صَوْتُهُ مَأْلُوفًا بِمُجَرَّدِ اِخْتِيَارِ طَاوِلَةٍ أَهْدَأَ. كُنْتُ أَفْتَقِدُ سُرْعَةَ الْحِوَارِ الَّذِي تَخَيَّلْتُهُ، وَأَسْمَعُ سُؤَالًا لَمْ يَظْهَرْ فِي رَسَائِلِنَا. حِينَ جَاءَ النَّادِلُ، طَلَبْتُ مَاءً، وَبَقِيَ هِشَامٌ يَنْتَظِرُ جَوَابِي. قُلْتُ إِنَّنِي لَا أَعْرِفُ إِنْ كُنْتُ سَأُعِيدُ اللَّوْنَ. تَرَكَ لِي مَكَانًا لِجُمْلَةٍ أُخْرَى.
Show English translationHide English translation
After two years of correspondence, I met Hisham in a cafe. I knew his way of placing commas and expected a voice with the same precision. But he said my name hesitantly, asked about the journey, then fell silent. I was ready for a conversation beginning where our messages had stopped, as though the table added nothing to the screen. I heard a spoon striking a cup and tried to remember a joke he had written.
He mentioned the purple sea I had deleted from my story. He had asked me whether the boat needed a jar of ink to sail on it. I laughed; I remembered the question, not the voice I was hearing now. When he began a sentence about the story, I completed it with the phrase I expected from him. He said he had intended a different question. My help seemed closer to choosing his words for him.
He asked to sit in a quieter corner and carried the two cups. He said he writes and erases his sentence before sending it, whereas here he hears its beginning before choosing its ending. He did not ask me to stop asking questions; he asked for time to think. I placed my phone face down. I did not want to return to the messages to find an answer he ought to give.
He asked why I had deleted the sea’s colour. I had written to him that the description did not suit the action. Facing him, I hesitated before saying that another reader’s comment had frightened me too. I expected a witty remark, but he asked whether I wanted to restore it. I looked at the cup. The question was not strange; I needed time for an answer I had not prepared beforehand.
We agreed to exchange the new chapter and left the date of our next meeting open. His voice did not become familiar merely through choosing a quieter table. I missed the speed of the conversation I had imagined and heard a question that had not appeared in our messages. When the waiter came, I asked for water, and Hisham continued waiting for my answer. I said I did not know whether I would restore the colour. He left me room for another sentence.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| الْمُرَاسَلَةِ | the correspondence |
| الْفَوَاصِلِ | the commas |
| مُتَرَدِّدًا | hesitantly |
| جَرَّةِ حِبْرٍ | a jar of ink |
| لِيُبْحِرَ | to sail |
| رُكْنٍ | a corner |
| وَيَمْحُوهَا | and erases it |
| مَقْلُوبًا | face down |
| أَخَافَنِي | frightened me |
| اِسْتِعَادَتَهُ | restoring it |
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
- Shared knowledge can remain while the pace and voice of a relationship change.
- The narrator’s added reason for deleting the sea also exposes the limits of her own polished messages.
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
الْبَحْرَ الْبَنَفْسَجِيَّ الَّذِي حَذَفْتُهُ
The masculine singular sea takes alladhi; the object suffix in hadhaftuhu links the clause back to it.
Arabic Prepositions with Pronouns: To Me, On Me and With Us
لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي أَنْ أَتَوَقَّفَ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ
Read minni as from me in the narrator’s account of what Hisham did not ask her to do.
