A writer adopts Salma to shelter her stories from questions at home. Familiar voices and an editorial request make the name carry more than she planned.
01Read the Arabic story
الِاسْمُ الْمُسْتَعَارُ الَّذِي صَارَ اسْمًا حَقِيقِيًّا لِي
وَقَّعْتُ أَوَّلَ قِصَّةٍ نَشَرْتُهَا بِاسْمِ «سَلْمَى»، وَكُنْتُ أُرِيدُ أَلَّا يَسْأَلَنِي أَهْلِي عَنْ كُلِّ جُمْلَةٍ. كَانَتِ الرَّاوِيَةُ جَرِيئَةً، تَقُولُ مَا أَتَرَدَّدُ فِي قَوْلِهِ خَارِجَ الْوَرَقِ. لَمْ أُغَيِّرْ اسْمِي فِي أَوْرَاقِي الرَّسْمِيَّةِ، وَلَمْ أَصْنَعْ لِسَلْمَى سِيرَةً أُخْرَى؛ وَضَعْتُ اسْمًا قَصِيرًا بَيْنَ النَّصِّ وَأَسْئِلَةِ الْبَيْتِ. وَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ سَيَبْقَى عَلَى غِلَافِ الْكِتَابِ.
بَعْدَ أَعْوَامٍ، نَادَتْنِي صَدِيقَةٌ قَدِيمَةٌ بِهِ فِي الشَّارِعِ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَتْ عَنْ أُمِّي. لَمْ تَكُنْ تُخَاطِبُ شَخْصِيَّةَ الْقِصَّةِ. كَانَتْ تَعْرِفُ حَنَانَ الَّتِي جَلَسَتْ بِجَانِبِهَا فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ، وَتَقْرَأُ لِسَلْمَى. أَجَبْتُهَا دُونَ أَنْ أُصَحِّحَ الِاسْمَ. وَفِي الْمَسَاءِ، نَادَتْنِي أُمِّي: «حَنَانُ، أَحْضِرِي الصِّينِيَّةَ». حَمَلْتُهَا وَأَنَا أُفَكِّرُ فِي الصَّوْتَيْنِ، لَا فِي أَيِّهِمَا يَكْشِفُ شَخْصًا مُزَيَّفًا.
وَصَلَتْنِي رِسَالَةٌ مِنْ مُحَرِّرٍ يَطْلُبُ مَقَالًا بِصَوْتِ سَلْمَى الْغَاضِبِ. أَرْفَقَ جُمْلَةً مِنْ قِصَّتِي، وَكَأَنَّهَا تَعْهُّدٌ بِأَنْ أَغْضَبَ كُلَّمَا كَتَبْتُ. قَرَأْتُ الْمَوْضُوعَ، فَوَجَدْتُ أَنَّنِي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَسْأَلَ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَتَّهِمَ. كَتَبْتُ مُسَوَّدَةً هَادِئَةً، ثُمَّ مَحَوْتُ جُمْلَةً حَادَّةً أَضَفْتُهَا لِإِرْضَائِهِ. لَمْ يَكُنِ الْحَذْفُ عَوْدَةً إِلَى الصَّمْتِ؛ بَقِيَ السُّؤَالُ الَّذِي أَرَدْتُ طَرْحَهُ.
أَرْسَلْتُ الْمَقَالَ وَقُلْتُ إِنَّ هَذَا هُوَ الصَّوْتُ الْمُنَاسِبُ لَهُ. سَأَلَ الْمُحَرِّرُ إِنْ كَانَ سَيَحْمِلُ التَّوْقِيعَ نَفْسَهُ، فَقُلْتُ نَعَمْ. لَمْ أَحْتَجْ إِلَى اسْمٍ ثَالِثٍ كَيْ أَكْتُبَ بِهُدُوءٍ. قَبِلَ النَّصَّ بَعْدَ تَعْدِيلِ عُنْوَانِهِ، وَلَا أَعْرِفُ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ غَيَّرَ تَصَوُّرَهُ عَنِّي. عِنْدَ نَشْرِهِ، سَأَلَتْ صَدِيقَتِي عَنِ السُّؤَالِ، لَا عَنْ غِيَابِ الْغَضَبِ.
وَضَعْتُ بِطَاقَتَيْنِ عَلَى مَكْتَبِي، إِحْدَاهُمَا بِاسْمِ حَنَانَ وَالْأُخْرَى بِاسْمِ سَلْمَى. لَمْ أَكْتُبْ عَلَى إِحْدَاهُمَا أَنَّهَا الْأَصْلُ وَعَلَى الْأُخْرَى أَنَّهَا الْقِنَاعُ. كَتَبْتُ رِسَالَةً إِلَى أُمِّي وَوَقَّعْتُهَا بِحَنَانَ، ثُمَّ رَدَدْتُ عَلَى قَارِئَةٍ بِسَلْمَى. وَضَعْتُ الرِّسَالَتَيْنِ قُرْبَ الْمُسَوَّدَةِ؛ كُلُّ تَوْقِيعٍ يَفْتَحُ بَابًا مَأْلُوفًا، وَلَيْسَ فِي أَيِّهِمَا وَعْدٌ بِأَنْ أَكُونَ الصَّوْتَ نَفْسَهُ دَائِمًا.
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I signed the first story I published “Salma,” wanting my family not to ask me about every sentence. The narrator was bold, saying what I hesitated to say off the page. I did not change my name on my official papers or invent another biography for Salma; I put a short name between the text and the questions at home. I thought it would stay on the book’s cover.
Years later, an old friend called me by it in the street, then asked about my mother. She was not addressing the story’s character. She knew Hanan, who had sat beside her at school, and read Salma’s writing. I answered without correcting the name. That evening my mother called, “Hanan, bring the tray.” I carried it while thinking about the two voices, not about which exposed a false person.
A letter arrived from an editor requesting an article in Salma’s angry voice. He enclosed a sentence from my story as though it were a pledge to become angry whenever I wrote. I read the subject and found that I wanted to ask before accusing. I wrote a quiet draft, then deleted a sharp sentence I had added to please him. The deletion was not a return to silence; the question I wanted to raise remained.
I sent the article and said that this was the voice appropriate to it. The editor asked whether it would carry the same signature, and I said yes. I did not need a third name to write calmly. He accepted the text after changing its title, and I do not know whether he changed his view of me. When it appeared, my friend asked about the question, not the absence of anger.
I put two cards on my desk, one bearing Hanan’s name and the other Salma’s. I did not write on one that it was the original and on the other that it was the mask. I wrote to my mother and signed Hanan, then replied to a reader as Salma. I placed both letters beside the draft; each signature opens a familiar door, and neither promises that I will always be the same voice.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| جَرِيئَةً | bold |
| سِيرَةً | a biography; life history |
| غِلَافِ | the cover of |
| تُخَاطِبُ | addressing; speaking to |
| تَعْهُّدٌ | a pledge; commitment |
| مُسَوَّدَةً | a draft |
| حَادَّةً | sharp; harsh in tone |
| لِإِرْضَائِهِ | to please him |
| تَصَوُّرَهُ | his view; conception |
| الْقِنَاعُ | the mask |
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 fictional narrator’s boldness does not commit the writer to the same tone in every new text.
- The adopted name acquires familiar relationships while the official name and freedom to choose a voice remain.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَتِ الرَّاوِيَةُ جَرِيئَةً
Match the feminine past subject to its accusative description: the narrator was bold.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
حَنَانَ الَّتِي جَلَسَتْ بِجَانِبِهَا
Follow the singular feminine clause identifying Hanan through the shared school history.
