Two references call the same friend independent and slow to consult. A missing paragraph and a changed page order test both descriptions.
01Read the Arabic story
رِسَالَتَا تَوْصِيَةٍ لِصَدِيقٍ وَاحِدٍ
وَضَعَ نَادِرٌ رِسَالَتَيْ تَوْصِيَةٍ عَلَى طَاوِلَتِي، وَسَأَلَنِي أَيُّهُمَا أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ. كَتَبَتْ مُدِيرَةُ مَعْرِضٍ أَنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ بِاسْتِقْلَالٍ، وَكَتَبَ مُنَسِّقُهُ أَنَّهُ يَتَأَخَّرُ فِي اسْتِشَارَةِ زُمَلَائِهِ. كُنْتُ صَدِيقَتَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَعْمَلَ مَعَهُ. قَالَ إِنَّ الْوَظِيفَتَيْنِ اللَّتَيْنِ يَتَقَدَّمُ إِلَيْهِمَا مُخْتَلِفَتَانِ، لَكِنَّهُ لَا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَبْدُوَ شَخْصَيْنِ. دَفَعَ الرِّسَالَةَ الْأُولَى نَحْوِي، وَانْتَظَرَ.
تَذَكَّرْتُ مَسَاءَ إِعْدَادِ دَلِيلِ الْمَعْرِضِ. غَابَتْ فِقْرَةٌ مِنْ مِلَفِّ الطِّبَاعَةِ، فَاتَّصَلَ نَادِرٌ بِالْمَطْبَعَةِ وَأَرْسَلَ نُسْخَةً أَصْلَحَهَا، بَدَلًا مِنَ انْتِظَارِ عَوْدَةِ الْمُدِيرَةِ. كَانَ الْوَقْتُ ضَيِّقًا. شَكَرَتْهُ صَبَاحًا؛ وَجَدَتْ دَلِيلًا جَاهِزًا عِنْدَ الْبَابِ. أَمَّا الْمُنَسِّقُ فَكَانَ قَدْ رَتَّبَ جَوْلَةً وَفْقَ تَرْتِيبِ الصَّفَحَاتِ الْقَدِيمِ. أَضَافَتِ النُّسْخَةُ الْجَدِيدَةُ صَفْحَةً فِي الْوَسَطِ، فَاخْتَلَفَتِ الْإِشَارَاتُ.
لَمْ يَعْرِفِ الْمُنَسِّقُ بِالتَّغْيِيرِ إِلَّا عِنْدَ تَسَلُّمِ الدَّلِيلِ. أَرَانِي نَادِرٌ دَفْتَرَ الْمَشْرُوعِ؛ كَانَتِ الْفِقْرَةُ النَّاقِصَةُ مُحَدَّدَةً بِالْأَحْمَرِ، وَكَانَ رَقْمُ الْمُنَسِّقِ فِي الصَّفْحَةِ الْمُقَابِلَةِ. قَالَ إِنَّهُ خَشِيَ تَأْخِيرَ الطِّبَاعَةِ بِمُكَالَمَةٍ أُخْرَى. كُنْتُ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَقُولَ إِنَّ الْمُنَسِّقَ بَالَغَ، لَكِنَّ الدَّفْتَرَ لَا يَحْمِلُ مُدَّةَ الْمُكَالَمَةِ الَّتِي لَمْ تَحْدُثْ. سَأَلْتُهُ عَمَّا فَعَلَهُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ.
كَانَ قَدْ صَحَّحَ أَرْقَامَ الْجَوْلَةِ مَعَ الْمُنَسِّقِ، وَبَقِيَا حَتَّى الْمَسَاءِ. اِقْتَرَحْتُ ذِكْرَ هَذَا الْعَمَلِ فِي الرِّسَالَتَيْنِ، وَتَحْدِيدَ الْمَوْقِفِ بَدَلًا مِنْ وَصْفِ طَبْعِهِ كُلِّهِ. قَالَ: سَتُصْبِحُ الرِّسَالَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ أَلْطَفَ. قُلْتُ إِنَّ ذِكْرَ التَّصْحِيحِ لَا يَمْحُو الْحَاجَةَ إِلَيْهِ. الْوَظِيفَةُ الَّتِي تَتَطَلَّبُ تَنْسِيقًا يَوْمِيًّا تَحْتَاجُ إِلَى مَعْرِفَةِ كَيْفَ يَبْلُغُ الْخَبَرُ زُمَلَاءَهُ، لَا كَيْفَ يَبْلُغُ الْمَطْبَعَةَ فَقَطْ.
اِتَّصَلَ بِصَاحِبَيِ الرِّسَالَتَيْنِ، وَطَلَبَ مِثَالًا وَاضِحًا فِي كُلٍّ مِنْهُمَا. لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي اخْتِيَارَ فَائِزَةٍ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ. قَبْلَ إِغْلَاقِ الظَّرْفَيْنِ، قَرَأَ وَصْفَ كُلِّ وَظِيفَةٍ ثَانِيَةً، وَكَتَبَ عَلَى دَفْتَرِهِ: إِرْسَالُ تَنْبِيهٍ عِنْدَ تَغْيِيرِ الْمِلَفِّ. بَقِيَتِ الرِّسَالَتَانِ مُخْتَلِفَتَيْنِ. سَأَلَنِي عَنْ قَهْوَتِنَا الْمُعْتَادَةِ، وَطَوَيْتُ الدَّفْتَرَ عِنْدَ الصَّفْحَةِ الَّتِي عَلَيْهَا الرَّقْمُ، لَا عِنْدَ كَلِمَةِ اسْتِقْلَالٍ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Nader put two references on my table and asked which was closer to him. An exhibition director had written that he worked independently, and its coordinator that he was slow to consult his colleagues. I had been his friend before working with him. He said the two jobs he was applying for were different, but he did not want to seem like two people. He pushed the first letter towards me and waited.
I remembered the evening we prepared the exhibition catalogue. A paragraph was missing from the print file, so Nader called the printer and sent a copy he had repaired instead of waiting for the director to return. Time was short. She thanked him in the morning; she found a finished catalogue at the door. The coordinator, however, had arranged a tour according to the old page order. The new copy added a page in the middle, so the references no longer matched.
The coordinator only learned of the change when he received the catalogue. Nader showed me the project notebook: the missing paragraph was marked in red, and the coordinator’s number was on the facing page. He said he had feared delaying printing with another call. I wanted to say the coordinator had exaggerated, but the notebook did not record the length of the call that never happened. I asked what he had done afterwards.
He had corrected the tour’s page numbers with the coordinator, and they had stayed until evening. I suggested mentioning that work in both letters and specifying the situation rather than describing his entire character. He said, “The second letter will become kinder.” I said mentioning the correction did not erase the need for it. The job requiring daily coordination needed to know how news reached his colleagues, not just how it reached the printer.
He called the two letter writers and requested a clear example in each. He did not ask me to choose a winner afterwards. Before sealing the two envelopes, he read each job description again and wrote in his notebook: send a notification when changing the file. The letters remained different. He asked about our usual coffee, and I closed the notebook at the page with the number, not at the word “independence”.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| تَوْصِيَةٍ | a recommendation; reference |
| بِاسْتِقْلَالٍ | independently; with independence |
| مُنَسِّقُهُ | its coordinator |
| اسْتِشَارَةِ | consulting |
| فِقْرَةٌ | a paragraph |
| الْإِشَارَاتُ | the page references |
| الْمُقَابِلَةِ | the facing; opposite |
| بَالَغَ | exaggerated |
| الظَّرْفَيْنِ | the two envelopes |
| تَنْبِيهٍ | a notification; alert |
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
- The same initiative can solve one deadline problem and create a coordination problem.
- Specific examples make competing references usable without making either a complete portrait.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ يَطْلُبْ مِنِّي اخْتِيَارَ فَائِزَةٍ
Read lam with the sound-final jussive verb: Nader no longer asks her to select a winning letter.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْوَظِيفَةُ الَّتِي تَتَطَلَّبُ تَنْسِيقًا يَوْمِيًّا
Follow the feminine singular job into the clause describing its daily coordination requirement.
