Bibliotheca Polyglotta

ʕĪsà ʕUbayd, Muqaddima (1921)

Complete text

III-§1.a

ونذكر هنا للدلالة على عظم هذا المشكل أنّ صديقنا المأسوف عليه محمّد بك تيمور الثوروي الفنّي ارتأى بعد إمعان التفكير وجوب وضع الروايات القصصية المرسحية باللغة العامّية

wa-naḏkur^u hunā lil-dalālaẗ ʕalà ʕaẓm hāḏā al-maškal ʔanna ṣadīqa-nā al-maʔsūf ʕalay-h Muḥammad Beğ Taymūr al-ṯawrawī al-fannī ’rtaʔà baʕd^a ʔimʕān al-tafkīr wuǧūb^a waḍʕⁱ ’l-riwāyātⁱ ’l-qiṣaṣiyyaẗ al-marsaḥiyyaẗ bi’l-luġaẗ al-ʕāmmiyyaẗ

To underline the importance of this problem, let us remind you here of the fact that our late friend, the revolutionary artist Muḥammad Bey Taymūr,¹ had decided, after careful consideration, that theatrical plays² should be composed in the vernacular/the language of the masses,

1. Egyptian dramatist and prose writer, 1892-1921. »His reading of realistic writers like De Maupassant and Zola prepared him to become a pioneer of the modern Arabic short story .... [... Around 1918, he was among the co-founders of] the literary circle Madrasat al-ādāb al-jadīda, later known as al-Madrasa al-ḥadītha (the ‘Modern School’) ...« – Ed C.M. De Moor, art. »Taymūr, Muḥammad (1892-1921)«, in EAL, ii: 762-3, in particular 762. 2. I do not know what (if anything at all) the double qualification of these riwāyāt as qiṣaṣiyyaẗ and marsaḥiyyaẗ possibly can mean.

AR: Muḥammad Taymūr, fannī (fann), irtaʔà (raʔy), waḍʕ, riwāyaẗ, marsaḥ, luġaẗ ʕāmmiyyaẗ
EN: Muḥammad Taymūr, vernacular, language of the masses

ليسم أدبنا بشخصيتنا المصرية ، ولتكون الروايات قريبة إلى الفنّ والحقيقة ، خالية من التكلّف والجمود .

li-yasima ʔadaba-nā bi-šaḫṣiyyati-nā al-miṣriyyaẗ, wa-li-takūn^a ’l-riwāyāt^u qarībaẗ^an ʔilà ’l-fann wa’l-ḥaqīqaẗ, ḫāliyaẗ^an min al-takalluf wa’l-ǧumūd.

in order to imprint our literature with the [typically] Egyptian character and to make the stories closer to art and Reality/Truth, devoid of mannerism and stiffness.

AR: ʔadab, šaḫṣiyyaẗ, miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), riwāyaẗ, fann, ḥaqīqaẗ, takalluf, ǧumūd
EN: devoid of mannerism and stiffness

ونحن مع إعجابنا الشديد بفقيدنا العزيز ، لا يمكننا الموافقة على هذه الفكرة المتطرّفة الخطرة ،

wa-naḥnu maʕa ʔiʕǧābi-nā ’l-šadīd bi-faqīdi-nā ’l-ʕazīz, lā yumkinu-nā ’l-muwāfaqaẗ ʕalà hāḏihī ’l-fikraẗ al-mutaṭarrifaẗ al-ḫaṭiraẗ,

Yet, despite the strong admiration we have for the dear friend we have lost,³ we cannot agree with this radical and hazardous idea.

3. Muḥammad Taymūr had died shortly before ʕUbayd wrote his Preface.

AR:…

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