Bibliotheca Polyglotta

ʕĪsà ʕUbayd, Muqaddima (1921)

Complete text

III-§1.a

ثمّ إن أهمّ تلك العيوب في عرفنا بعد عيوب الخيال وقلّة الملاحظة وعدم التحليل التي نوّهنا عنها ضعف ملكة الوصف والتصوير ،

ṯumma ʔinna ʔahamm^a tilka ’l-ʕuyūb fī ʕurfi-nā baʕd^a ʕuyūb al-ḫayāl wa-qillaẗ al-mulāḥaẓaẗ wa-ʕadam al-taḥlīl allatī nawwahnā ʕan-hā ḍuʕf^u malakaẗⁱ ’l-waṣf wa’l-taṣwīr,

Also, the (to our knowledge) most important defect after those, referred to above, of [excessive] fantasy, lack of observation and absence of [psychological] analysis, is the lack¹ of talent to describe and present.

1. Lit., ‘weakness’.

AR: ʕuyūb (ʕayb), ḫayāl, mulāḥaẓaẗ, taḥlīl, ḍuʕf, malakaẗ, waṣf, taṣwīr
EN: [excessive] fantasy, observation, [psychological] analysis, describe, present

فإنّ تصوير الأمكنة التي تنشأ فيها الأشخاص من أهمّ مقتضيات هذا الفنّ ، لأنّ لها تأثيراً في تكييف خواطرهم ومشاعرهم ،

fa-ʔinna taṣwīr^a ’l-ʔamkinaẗ allatī tanšaʔ^u fī-hā ’l-ʔašḫāṣ min ʔahammⁱ muqtaḍayāt hāḏā ’l-fann, li-ʔanna la-hā taʔṯīr^an fī takyīfⁱ ḫawāṭiri-him wa-mašāʕiri-him,

Depiction of the places where the characters have grown up is among the most important requirements for this art, precisely because it will affect the way of designing their thoughts and feelings.

AR: taṣwīr, našaʔa (našʔaẗ, nušūʔ), ʔašḫāṣ, fann, taʔṯīr, takyīf, ḫawāṭir, mašāʕir
EN: depiction

ثمّ إنّ للتصوير الصادق الحيوي الدقيق أثراً عظيماً في نفس القارئ

ṯumma ʔinna lil-taṣwīr al-ṣādiq al-ḥayawī al-daqīq ʔaṯar^an ʕaẓīm^an fī nafs al-qāriʔ

An accurate and vivid description also will have a great mental impact on the reader,

AR: taṣwīr, ṣādiq (ṣidq), ḥayawī (ḥayawiyyaẗ, ḥayāẗ), daqīq (diqqaẗ), ʔaṯar, nafs, qāriʔ
EN: accurate, vivid, description

لأنّه يجعله يشعر بصحّة الرواية المأخوذة عن الحياة ، وبحقيقة وجود الأشخاص المصوّرين عن الطبيعة .

li-ʔanna-hū yaǧʕalu-hū yašʕur^u bi-ṣaḥwaẗ al-riwāyaẗ al-maʔḫūḏaẗ ʕan il-ḥayāẗ, wa-bi-ḥaqīqaẗ wuǧūd al-ʔašḫāṣ al-muṣawwarīn ʕan il-ṭabīʕaẗ.

as it allows the reader to feel the credibility of a story taken from life and the truth of the existence of the people portrayed by nature.²

2. Hafez renders this paragraph – the only one he reproduces in full English translation – as follows: »Apart from the lack of creative imagination, inadequate observation and the absence of analysis, there is the weakness of description and illustrative ability. The description of the setting from which the characters emerge is one of the most important requirements of fictional art, because it has a tremendous effect on forming their characteristics and feelings. Furthermore, the vivid narrative and the use of accurate realistic description have a strong impact on the reader, for they convince him of the truthfulness of the story and of its relevance to real life« – S. Hafez, The Genesis of Arabic Narrative Discourse, Saqi Books, 1993: 179.

AR: šaʕara (šuʕūr, mašāʕir), ṣaḥwaẗ, riwāyaẗ, ḥayāẗ, ḥaqīqaẗ, ʔašḫāṣ, taṣwīr, ṭabīʕaẗ
EN: …

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