Bibliotheca Polyglotta

أمّا سبب إقدام كتّابنا على المرسح وإهمالهم القصص ، فذلك لأن المرسح أضمن لفائدتهم المادّية والأدبية ،

ʔammā sabab ʔiqdām kuttābi-nā ʕalà ’l-marsaḥ wa-ʔihmāli-him al-qiṣaṣ, fa-ḏālika li-ʔanna ’l-marsaḥ ʔaḍmana li-fāʔidati-him al-māddiyyaẗ wa’l-ʔadabiyyaẗ,

The reason for our [sc. Egypt’s] writers’ preoccupation with theatre and their neglect of narrative prose lies in the fact that theatre better guarantees them material profit and prestige in the literary scene¹

1. This is probably what is meant by li-fāʔidati-him al-māddiyyaẗ wa’l-ʔadabiyyaẗ – or would it be more appropriate to render fāʔidaẗ ʔadabiyyaẗ as ‘moral benefit’?

AR: sabab/ʔasbāb, ʔiqdām, kuttāb (kitābaẗ), marsaḥ, ʔihmāl qaṣaṣ / qiṣaṣ, fāʔidaẗ (fawāʔid, mufīd), ʔadabī
EN: narrative prose

ولأنّ الحرب بإيجادها أزمة الورق قضت تقريباً على حركة الطباعة ، وحالت دون إقدام الكتّاب على تأليف القصص

wa-li-ʔanna ’l-ḥarb bi-ʔīǧādi-hā ʔazmaẗ al-waraq qaḍat taqrīb^an ʕalà ḥarakaẗ al-ṭibāʕaẗ, wa-ḥālat dūna ʔiqdām al-kuttāb ʕalà taʔlīf al-qiṣaṣ

and that the paper crisis brought about by the war² put an end to almost all printing activity and prevented the writers from composing [prose] stories.

2. I.e., WW I.

AR: ʔīǧād, ʔazmaẗ, ḥarakaẗ, ʔiqdām, kātib / kuttāb (kitābaẗ), taʔlīf
EN: …

على أنّ هناك عوامل أخرى ، ترجع إلى مزاج الكاتب المصري (ب) ونفسيته تجعلنا لا نجازف بكثير من الأمل في ارتقاء هذا النوع عندنا بالسرعة المبتغاة ؛

ʕalà ʔanna hunāka ʕawāmil ʔuḫrà, tarǧiʕu ʔilà mazāǧ al-kātib al-miṣrī wa-nafsiyyati-hī taǧʕalu-nā lā nuǧāzifu bi-kaṯīrⁱⁿ min al-ʔamal fī ’rtiqāʔ hāḏā ’l-nawʕ ʕinda-nā bi’l-surʕaẗ al-mubtaġāẗ;

But there are also other factors, as, e.g., the Egyptian writer’s inclination [p. ii] and psychological disposition, both of which make him abstain from risking to put too much hope into the advancement/ the progress of this genre in our country as quickly as he would desire [i.e., he does not grow this hope];

AR: ʕawāmil (ʕāmil), mazāǧ, kātib, miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), nafsiyyaẗ, ʔamal, irtiqāʔ, nawʕ
EN: progress

لأنّ حرارة الطقس قد أنمت في الكاتب المصري حاسّة الخيال إلى درجة مدهشة ،

li-ʔanna ḥarāraẗ al-ṭaqs qad ʔanmat fī ’l-kātib al-miṣrī ḥāssaẗ al-ḫayāl ʔilà daraǧaẗⁱⁿ mudhišaẗ,

for the hot climate has cultivated in the Egyptian writer the instinct for fantasy to an astonishing extent;

AR: ḥarāraẗ, ṭaqs, kātib, miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), ḥāssaẗ / ḥawāss, ḫayāl
EN: climate, fantasy

فأصبح هذا الخيال ظاهراً أثره السيّئ في كلّ رواية مصرية بتجنّبه تصوير الحياة الحقيقية ،

fa-ʔaṣbaḥa hāḏā ’l-ḫayāl ẓāhir^an ʔaṯara-hū al-sayyiʔ fī kull riwāyaẗ miṣriyyaẗ bi-taǧannubi-hī taṣwīr^a ’l-ḥayāẗ al-ḥaqīqiyyaẗ,

the bad effect of this fantasy namely makes itself felt now in every Egyptian plot³ in that it avoids depicting real life.

3. Another value of the broad semantic spectrum covered by the term riwāyaẗ.

AR: ḫayāl, ʔaṯar, riwāyaẗ, miṣrī, taṣwīr, ḥayāẗ, ḥaqīqī (ḥaqīqaẗ)
EN: fantasy, depicting real life

ثمّ إنّ التقاليد الشرقية المقيّدة قضت تقريباً على الاختلاط الجنسي ، وأضعفت من أزماته النفسانية الشديدة ؛

ṯumma ʔinna ’l-taqālīd al-šarqiyyaẗ al-muqayyidaẗ qaḍat taqrīb^an ʕalà ’l-iḫtilāṭ al-ǧinsī, wa-ʔaḍʕafat min ʔazamāti-hī ’l-nafsāniyyaẗ al-šadīdaẗ;

Moreover, restrictive eastern traditions [gender segregation!] prohibit nearly [any] meeting/encounter among the sexes and [in this way] contribute to intensifying his [sc. the Egyptian writer’s] severe psychological dilemmas.

AR: taqālīd (taqlīd), šarqī, muqayyid (qayd / quyūd), ʔazmaẗ, nafsānī
EN: …

فمن جهة كاد يجهل هذه الأزمات وما تحدثه في النفس البشرية من التطوير الخلقي فيعجز بطبيعة الحال عن تصويرها في أشخاصه ،

fa-min ǧihaẗ kāda yaǧhalu hāḏihī ’l-ʔazamāt wa-mā tuḥdiṯu-hū fī ’l-nafs al-bašariyyaẗ min al-taṭwīr al-ḫulqī fa-yaʕǧizu bi-ṭabīʕaẗ al-ḥāl ʕan taṣwīri-hā fī ʔašḫāṣi-h,

On the one hand, he cannot know these conflicts and the moral implications triggered by them in the human psyche, and as a consequence it is only natural that he is unable to depict it in his heroes.

AR: ǧahl, ʔazmaẗ, nafs, bašarī (bašar), taṭwīr, ḫulqī (ḫulq / ʔaḫlāq), taṣwīr, ʔašḫāṣ
EN: human psyche

ومن جهة أخرى فهو لم يتدرّب بعد على الملاحظة والتحليل النفسي ، وهما ملكتان تنموان بالخبرة الشخصية الطويلة ،

wa-min ǧihaẗ ʔuḫrà fa-huwa lam yatadarrab baʕd ʕalà ’l-mulāḥaẓaẗ wa’l-taḥlīl al-nafsī, wa-humā malikatānⁱ tanmuwānⁱ bi’l-ḫibraẗ al-šaḫṣiyyaẗ al-ṭawīlaẗ,

On the other hand, he is not yet trained in [the technique of] observation and psychological analysis, which are two skills that only grow with long experience.

AR: tadrīb, mulāḥaẓaẗ, taḥlīl, šaḫṣiyyaẗ
EN: observation, psychological, analysis

فإذا حاول وضع رواية لا يحسن أنْ يكون من عندياته ذاتية فردية لأشخاصه ، فتبدو لنا هذه الأشخاص أشباحاً بلا أرواح

fa-ʔiḏā ḥāwala waḍʕ riwāyaẗ lā yaḥsun^u ʔan yakūn^a min ʕindiyyāti-hī ḏātiyyaẗ fardiyyaẗ li-ʔašḫāṣi-h, fa-tabdū la-nā hāḏihī ’l-ʔašḫāṣ ʔašbāḥ^an bi-lā ʔarwāḥ

So, when he tries to write a novel he usually does not have the skill to endow his characters with an individual personality, and they appear to be soulless phantoms for us.

AR: waḍʕ, riwāyaẗ, ʔašḫāṣ, ʔašbāḥ bi-lā ʔarwāḥ (rūḥ)
EN: …

فإذا أراد أن يصوّر شابّاً يسِرّ إلى أذن حبيبته "أنشودة الشباب الخالدة" تراه يعمد إلى الخيال والتخمين والتكلّف ،

fa-ʔiḏā ʔarāda ʔan yuṣawwir^a šābb^an yusirru ʔilà ʔuḏnⁱ ḥabībati-hī "ʔunšūdaẗ al-šabāb al-ḫālidaẗ" tarā-hu yaʕmid^u ʔilà ’l-ḫayāl wa’l-taḫmīn wa’l-takalluf,

When he, for instance, wants to describe a young man who whispers “the eternal song of youth” into his beloved’s ear, you see him making use of fantasy, guessing and mannerism; he lets the lover address his beloved with expressions that are devoid of individuality,⁴

4. ḫuṣūṣiyyaẗ: also ‘specificity, individual feature’.

AR: taṣwīr, ḫālid (ḫulūd), ḫayāl, taḫmīn, takalluf
EN: fantasy, mannerism, individuality

إذ يجعل المحبّ يخاطب حبيبته بعبارات لا خصوصية فيها كتصويره لها جمال الطبيعة وتغريد العصافير ، ونشيد اليمام وخرير المياه وغير ذلك من السخافات الصبيانية والإحساسات المريضة الضئيلة

ʔiḏ yaǧʕal al-muḥibb^a yuḫāṭibu ḥabībata-hū bi-ʕibārātⁱⁿ lā ḫuṣūṣiyyaẗ^a fī-hā ka-taṣwīri-hī la-hā ǧamāl^a ’l-ṭabīʕaẗ wa-taġrīd^a ’l-ʕaṣāfīr, wa-našīd^a ’l-yamām wa-ḫarīr^a ’l-miyāh wa-ġayr^a ḏālika min al-saḫāfāt al-ṣibyāniyyaẗ wa’l-ʔiḥsāsāt al-marīḍaẗ al-ḍaʔīlaẗ

as, for example, when he describes to her the beauty of nature and the twittering of the birds, the song of the doves and the murmuring of the water, and similar silly pubertal stuff and weak, morbid sentiments;

AR: taṣwīr, ǧamāl, ṭabīʕaẗ, saḫāfāt, ṣibyāniyyaẗ, marīḍ, ḍaʔīl (ḍuʔūlaẗ)
EN: weak, morbid

مما يقضي عادة على شخصية الأشخاص ويحرّمهم من عنصر الحياة .

mimmā yaqḍī ʕādaẗ^an ʕalà šaḫṣiyyaẗ al-ʔašḫāṣ wa-yuḥarrimu-hum min ʕunṣur al-ḥayāẗ.

typically this does away with the characters’ [individual] personality and deprives them of the element of vitality.

AR: šaḫṣiyyaẗ, ʔašḫāṣ, ʕunṣur (ʕanāṣir), al-ḥayāẗ
EN: [individual] personality, vitality

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