Bibliotheca Polyglotta

ʕĪsà ʕUbayd, Muqaddima (1921)

Complete text

III-§1.a

وإنّنا لنشكر الأستاذ على إظهاره هذا الكتاب ، ونرجو منه ألّا يضنّ علينا بطبع محاضراته القيّمة ،

wa-ʔinna-nā la-naškur^u ’l-ʔustāḏ ʕalà ʔiẓhāri-hī hāḏā ’l-kitāb, wa-narǧū min-hu ʔallā yaḍinn^a ʕalay-nā bi-ṭabʕⁱ muḥāḍarāti-hī ’l-qayyimaẗ,

We thank the Professor for coming out with this book, and we hope he’s not sparse and will commit to print [also] his valuable lectures.

AR: muḥāḍaraẗ, qayyim (qīmaẗ)
EN: …

كما أنّ رجاءنا هذا موجّه أيضاً إلى سائر أساتذة الجامعة المصرية لا سيّما الأستاذ حسين افندي رمزي لِما سيكون لمحاضراته العلمية النفسية من التأثير على الأدب الحديث .

ka-mā ʔanna raǧāʔa-nā hāḏā muwaǧǧah^un ʔayḍ^an ʔilà sāʔir ʔasātiḏaẗ al-ǧāmiʕaẗ al-miṣriyyaẗ lā siyya-mā ’l-ʔustāḏ Ḥusayn ʔafandī Ramzī li-mā sa-yakūn^u li-muḥāḍarāti-hī ’l-ʕilmiyyaẗ al-nafsiyyaẗ min al-taʔṯīr ʕalà ’l-ʔadab al-ḥadīṯ.

Our request is likewise directed at all other professors at the Egyptian University, especially Professor Ḥusayn Efendi Ramzī;¹ his lectures on psychology could have a [similar deep] impact on modern literature.

1. I was unable to identify this scholar in the reference works at my disposal.

AR: miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), Ḥusayn Ramzī, muḥāḍaraẗ, ʕilmī (ʕilm, ʕilmiyyaẗ), nafsī, taʔṯīr, ʔadab, ḥadīṯ (ḥadāṯaẗ)
EN: …

(حـ) 3 – أما غاية الرواية ، فيجب أنْ تكون التحرّي عن الحياة وتصويرها بأمانة وإخلاص كما تبدو لنا ، وجمع كمية كبيرة من الملاحظات والمستندات الإنسانية

3 – ʔammā ġāyaẗ al-riwāyaẗ, fa-yaǧib^u ʔan takūn^a ’l-taḥarriy^a ʕan il-ḥayāẗ wa-taṣwīri-hā bi-ʔamānaẗ wa-ʔiḫlāṣ ka-mā tabdū la-nā, wa-ǧamʕ kamiyyaẗ kabīraẗ min al-mulāḥaẓāt wa’l-mustanadāt al-ʔinsāniyyaẗ

[p. viii] 3 | The purpose of a narration² has to be a thorough investigation into life and depicting/portraying it in a faithful and reliable manner, [exactly] as it appears to us [i.e., as we see it]; [it also has to be] the collection of observations and evidence³ about the human being

2. riwāyaẗ ‘telling a story’ almost has the meaning of ‘reporting’ here; cf. also above. 3. mustanadāt ‘documents to rely on’.

AR: ġāyaẗ, riwāyaẗ, taḥarrⁱⁿḥayāẗ, taṣwīr, ʔamānaẗ, ʔiḫlāṣ, mulāḥaẓaẗ, mustanadāt, ʔinsānī (ʔinsāniyyat, ʔinsān)
EN: thorough investigation into life, depicting/portraying, faithful, reliable, as it appears to us, observation, evidence

بحيث تكون الرواية عبارة عن "دوسيه" يطّلع فيه القارئ على تاريخ حياة إنسان أو صفحة من حياته ،

bi-ḥayṯu takūnu ’l-riwāyaẗ ʕibāraẗ ʕan "dūsīh" yaṭṭaliʕ^u fī-hi ’l-qāriʔ ʕalà tārīḫ ḥayāẗ ʔinsān ʔaw ṣafḥaẗ min ḥayāti-h,

so that the story can serve as something like a dossier⁴ in which the reader is informed about a person’s biography or a phase of the latter’s life.

4. ʕUbayd uses the foreign word here: dūsīh.

AR: riwāyaẗ, dūsīh, qāriʔ, tārīḫ, ʔinsān, ḥayāẗ
EN: like a dossier

ويجمل بالكاتب أنْ يدرس فيها أسرار الطبيعة البشرية وخفايا القلب الإنساني الغامض ، والتطوّر الاجتماعي والأخلاقي ، وعوامل الحضارة والبيئة والوراثة في نفوس الأشخاص،

wa-yaǧmul^u bi’l-kātib ʔan yadrus^a fī-hā ʔasrār al-ṭabīʕaẗ al-bašariyyaẗ wa-ḫafāyā al-qalb al-ʔinsānī al-ġāmiḍ, wa’l-taṭawwur al-iǧtimāʕī wa’l-ʔaḫlāqī, wa-ʕawāmil al-ḥaḍāraẗ wa’l-bīʔaẗ wa’l-wirāṯaẗ fī nufūs al-ʔašḫāṣ,

In it, a writer should ideally study the hidden secrets of the human heart; [he should also study] social and moral development as well as the influence of civilisation, milieu, and what is inherited genetically⁵ in the characters’ psyche.

5. ʕawāmil al-ḥaḍāraẗ wa’l-bīʔaẗ wa’l-wirāṯaẗ – three key terms that show that the author is well-read in European positivist theories about the influence of civilisation, (social) milieu and genetic factors on human behaviour.

AR: kātib, darasa (dars / dirāsaẗ), ʔasrār (sirr), ṭabīʕaẗ, bašarī (bašar), ḫafāyā, qalb, ʔinsānī, ġāmiḍ (ġumūḍ), taṭawwur, iǧtimāʕī (muǧtamaʕ), ʔaḫlāq, ʕawāmil (ʕāmil), ḥaḍāraẗ, bīʔaẗ, wirāṯaẗ, nufūs (nafs), ʔašḫāṣ
EN: heart, social and moral development, civilisation, milieu, genetically, characters’ psyche

وذلك مع بعض التحفّظ في إبداء حكمه أو آرائه الشخصية ، لأنّ مهمّته الأساسية تشريح النفوس البشرية وتدوين ما يكتشفه من الملاحظات ،

wa-ḏālika maʕa baʕḍ al-taḥaffuẓ fī ʔibdāʔ ḥukmi-hī ʔaw ʔārāʔi-hī al-šaḫṣiyyaẗ, li-ʔanna mahammata-hū ’l-ʔasāsiyyaẗ tašrīḥ al-nufūs al-bašariyyaẗ wa-tadwīn mā yaktašifu-hū min al-mulāḥaẓāt,

He should do so while at the same time holding back, to some extent, his [own] judgment or personal opinion, for his primary task should be to dissect the human soul and to record what he discovers via observation,⁶

6. The key words here are tašrīḥ ‘dissection’, tadwīn ‘recording, registering’, and mulāḥaẓaẗ ‘observation’.

AR: taḥaffuẓ, ḥukm, šaḫṣiyyaẗ, mahammaẗ, tašrīḥ, nufūs (nafs), bašarī, tadwīn, iktašafa (iktišāf), mulāḥaẓaẗ
EN: dissect the human soul, record, discovers, observation

تار کاً الحكم في ذلك إلى القارئ نفسه يستخلص منها المغزى الذي يرمي إليه بخفّة ومهارة دون أنْ يتحمّل مشقّة المناداة به .

tārik^an al-ḥukm fī ḏālika ʔilà ’l-qāriʔⁱ nafsi-hī yastaḫliṣ^u min-hā ’l-maġzà allaḏī yarmī ʔilay-hi bi-ḫiffaẗ wa-mahāraẗ dūn^a ʔan yataḥammal^a mašaqqaẗ al-munādāẗ bi-h.

leaving the judgment about all that to the reader who will himself draw the conclusion from it, easily and competently without having to bear the troubles of being called on to do so.

AR: ḥukm, qāriʔ, maġzà, mahāraẗ
EN: …

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