Between the Age of Darkness and the Break of Dawn — Page 5

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بَيْنَ عَصْرِ الظُّلَامِ وَمَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ

Between the dark ages and the break of dawn.

مَرْحَبًا بِكَ يَا سَعِيدُ!

Welcome, Saeed!

شَدَّ مَا آنَسْتَنَا وَمَلَاتَ قُلُوبَنَا فَرَحًا بِقُدُومِكَ.

You have cheered us so much and filled our hearts with joy by your arrival.

شُكْرًا لَكَ يَا صَلَاحُ، فَإِنَّ فَرَحِي بِلِقَائِكَ لَا يُوصَفُ.

Thank you, Salah; my joy at seeing you is beyond words.

وَلَسْتُ أُغَالِي إِذَا قُلْتُ لَكَ إِنَّنِي كُنْتُ أَعُدُّ الْأَيَّامَ بِفَارِغِ الصَّبْرِ، لِأَقْضِيَ مَعَكُمْ إِجَازَةَ هَذَا الْعَامِ، كَمَا قَضَيْتُ إِجَازَةَ الْعَامِ السَّابِقِ.

I am not exaggerating when I say I have been counting the days with eager impatience to spend this year's vacation with you, just as I did last year.

إِنَّ فَلَسْطِينَ كُلَّهَا لَتُرَحِّبُ بِكَ يَا سَعِيدُ، كَمَا تُرَحِّبُ بِكُلِّ عَرَبِيٍّ يَحُلُّ بِهَا؛ لِأَنَّهَا تَعْتَبِرُ أَبْنَاءَ الْعُرُوبَةِ كُلَّهُمْ أَبْنَاءَهَا.

All of Palestine welcomes you, Saeed, as it does every Arab who comes here, for it considers all Arabs its own children.

لَقَدْ بَلَّغْتُ إِخْوَانِي فِي مِصْرَ تَحِيَّتَكَ وَتَحِيَّاتِ إِخْوَانِكَ، وَأَذَعْتُ فِيهِمْ مَا دَارَ بَيْنَنَا مِنْ أَحَادِيثَ طَرِيفَةٍ خِلَالَ الْعُطْلَةِ الصَّيْفِيَّةِ الْمَاضِيَةِ.

I have conveyed your greetings and those of your brothers to my brothers in Egypt, and I shared with them the delightful conversations we had last summer.

إِنَّ فَضْلَ هَذِهِ الْأَحَادِيثِ عَائِدٌ إِلَيْكَ، عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ، فَمَا رَأَيْتُ فِي كُلِّ مَنْ عَرَفْتُ مِنْ أَتْرَابِي وَإِخْوَانِي الطَّلَبَةِ مَنْ وَعَى فِي صَدْرِهِ مِنْ تَارِيخِ الْعَرَبِ نِصْفَ مَا وَعَيْتَ.

In any case, the credit for those conversations belongs to you; I have never known any of my peers or fellow students who held as much Arab history in their hearts as you do.

وَقَلَّمَا عَرَضَ فِي ذِكْرُكَ إِلَّا خَطَرَ بِبَالِي قَوْلُ الشَّاعِرِ: وَمَنْ وَعَى التَّارِيخَ فِي صَدْرِهِ أَضَافَ أَعْمَارًا إِلَى عُمْرِهِ!

Rarely does your name come up without the poet's words crossing my mind: "He who holds history in his heart adds lifetimes to his own."

فَقَدْ هَيَّأَ اللَّهُ لَكَ – بِمَا وَعَيْتَهُ مِنْ أَخْبَارِ قَوْمِكَ - أَضْعَافَ مَا هَيَّأَ لِغَيْرِكَ؛ فَلَا عَجَبَ إِذَا رُزِقْتَ مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ أَضْعَافَ عُمْرِكَ.

God has granted you—through the history of your people that you carry—far more than He has others; it is no wonder, then, that you have been gifted a life many times longer than your years.

Vocabulary · المفردات (23 verbs · 45 nouns)

• شَدَّ — how much
• آنَسَ — to cheer
• مَلَأَ — to fill
• وَصَفَ — to describe
• غَالَى — to exaggerate
• قَالَ — to say
• كَانَ — to be
• عَدَّ — to count
• قَضَى — to spend
• رَحَّبَ — to welcome
• حَلَّ — to settle
• اِعْتَبَرَ — to consider
• بَلَّغَ — to convey
• أَذَاعَ — to broadcast
• دَارَ — to revolve
• رَأَى — to see
• عَرَفَ — to know
• وَعَى — to comprehend
• عَرَضَ — to occur
• خَطَرَ — to cross one's mind
• أَضَافَ — to add
• هَيَّأَ — to prepare
• رَزَقَ — to provide
• عَصْر — era
• ظُلَام — darkness
• مَطْلَع — beginning
• فَجْر — dawn
• قَلْب — heart
• فَرَح — joy
• قُدُوم — arrival
• شُكْر — thanks
• لِقَاء — meeting
• يَوْم — day
• فَارِغ — empty
• صَبْر — patience
• إِجَازَة — vacation
• عَام — year
• سَابِق — previous
• عَرَبِيّ — Arab (male)
• اِبْن — son
• عُرُوبَة — Arabism
• أَخ — brother
• تَحِيَّة — greeting
• حَدِيث — conversation
• طَرِيف — amusing
• عُطْلَة — holiday
• صَيْفِيّ — summer
• مَاضِي — past
• فَضْل — merit
• عَائِد — due
• حَال — state
• تِرْب — peer
• طَالِب — student (male)
• صَدْر — chest
• تَارِيخ — history
• عَرَب — Arabs
• نِصْف — half
• ذِكْر — mention
• بَال — mind
• قَوْل — saying
• شَاعِر — poet
• عُمْر — age
• خَبَر — news
• قَوْم — people
• ضِعْف — double
• عَجَب — wonder
• حَيَاة — life
• إِخْوَان — brothers