Bibliotheca Polyglotta

ʕĪsà ʕUbayd, Muqaddima (1921)

Complete text

III-§1.a

وإنّا لموقنون أنّ هذه الطريقة الجديدة ستصادف بادئ بدء اعتراضاً شديداً من بعض كتّابنا الذين يتوهّمون أنّهم أساتذة مرشدون جادت بهم العناية الإلهية لهداية الأمّة وحملها على اتّباع آرائهم ،

wa-ʔinnā la-mūqinūn^a ʔanna hāḏihī ’l-ṭarīqaẗ al-ǧadīdaẗ sa-tuṣādif^u bādiʔ^a badʔⁱⁿ iʕtirāḍ^an šadīd^an min baʕḍ kuttābi-nā allaḏīn^a yatawahhamūn^a ʔanna-hum ʔasātiḏaẗ^un muršidūn^a ǧādat bi-him al-ʕināyaẗ al-ʔilāhiyyaẗ li-hidāyaẗⁱ ’l-ʔummaẗ wa-ḥamli-hā ʕalà ’ttibāʕ ʔārāʔi-him,

We are convinced that this new way of writing will initially meet strong resistance among some of our writers, those who consider themselves as leading masters whom Divine Providence endowed with guiding the nation and turning it into followers of their opinions.

AR: ǧadīd, kuttāb, tawahhama (tawahhum), muršid (ʔiršād), hidāyaẗ, ʔummaẗ
EN: guiding the nation

فإنّا نخالف ذلك ونتحمّل تبعة آرائنا ، فلا يحقّ للكاتب مطلقاً أنْ يدّعي هذا الادّعاء لأنّنا معرضون دائماً للخطأ ،

fa-ʔinnā nuḫālifu ḏālika wa-nataḥammal^u tabiʕaẗ^a ʔārāʔi-nā, fa-lā yaḥiqq^u lil-kātib muṭlaq^an ʔan yaddaʕiy^a hāḏā ’l-iddiʕāʔ li-ʔanna-nā muʕraḍūn^a dāʔim^an lil-ḫaṭaʔ,

In contrast, we oppose this idea, and we take on own responsibility for our ideas.¹ For a writer has absolutely no right to make such a claim – none of us is immune against making mistakes.

1. ? – nataḥammalu tabiʕat ʔārāʔi-nā. Unfortunately, the meaning does not become much clearer if we read tabaʕat… instead of tabiʕat...

AR: kātib, ḫaṭaʔ
EN: …

فإنّنا نحكم على حسب أمزجتنا وميولنا وأذواقنا وأمزجة الناس متعدّدة ، وميولهم متضاربة ، وأذواقهم مختلفة ومضادّة .

fa-ʔinna-nā naḥkum^u ʕalà ḥasabⁱ ʔamziǧati-nā wa-muyūli-nā wa-ʔaḏwāqi-nā wa-ʔamziǧaẗ^u ’l-nās mutaʕaddidaẗ, wa-muyūlu-hum mutaḍāribaẗ, wa-ʔaḏwāqu-hum muḫtalifaẗ wa-muḍāddaẗ.

We make up our minds according to our temperaments, preferences and personal tastes – and people’s temperaments are numerous, their preferences opposed to each other, and their tastes may be different and contradictory.

AR: ḥakama (ḥukm), mazāǧ, mayl, ʔaḏwāq (ḏawq), taʕaddud
EN: …

فلا يصحّ ولا يحقّ لنا أنْ نجبر غيرنا على قبول ما لا يسيغه ولا يهضمه ،

fa-lā yaṣaḥḥ^u wa-lā yaḥiqq^u la-nā ʔan nuǧbir^a ġayra-nā ʕalà qubūl mā lā yusīġu-hū wa-lā yahḍimu-h,

Therefore, we do not have the right, neither legally nor morally, to force somebody to accept what he cannot easily swallow and digest.

AR:…

ثمّ إنّ نفس أذواقنا وميولنا التي تعتمد (ط) عليها في الحكم تتغيّر يوماً عن يوم ،

ṯumma ʔinna nafs^a ʔaḏwāqi-nā wa-muyūli-nā ’llatī taʕtamidu ʕalay-hā fī ’l-ḥukm tataġayyar^u yawm^an ʕan yawm,

Moreover, these very same tastes and preferences on which we base [p. ix] our judgments – they change from day to day.

AR: ʔaḏwāq (ḏawq), mayl, ḥukm, taġayyur
EN: …

فقد نستحسن اليوم رأياً ونعشقه وندافع عنه ، وغداً يتّضح لنا أنّنا أخطأنا وتسرّعنا في استحساننا له فننبذه ونحاربه .

fa-qad nastaḥsin^u ’l-yawm^a raʔy^an wa-naʕšiqu-hū wa-nudāfiʕ^u ʕan-hu, wa-ġad^an yattaḍiḥ^u la-nā ʔanna-nā ʔaḫṭaʔnā wa-tasarraʕnā fī ’stiḥsāni-nā la-hū fa-nanbiḏu-hū wa-nuḥāribu-h.

Today we may appreciate a point of view, love it and defend it, while tomorrow we may realize that we’ve made a mistake and our appreciation was too hurried; so we reject it and fight against it.

AR: al-yawm, ġad^an, ittaḍaḥa (wuḍūḥ), ḫaṭaʔ
EN: …

وكيف يمكن للكاتب أنْ يثبت أنْ آراءه مفيدة للهيئة الاجتماعية غير مضرّة بها ؟

wa-kayfa yumkinu lil-kātib ʔan yuṯbita ʔanna ʔārāʔa-hū mufīdaẗ lil-hayʔaẗ al-iǧtimāʕiyyaẗ ġayr muḍirraẗ bi-hā?

How then can an author prove that his ideas are beneficial to society,² not doing harm to it?

2. al-hayʔaẗ al-iǧtimāʕiyyaẗ – the Nahḍa’s standard term for the concept of ‘society’. It reflects the efendiyya’s look at society as a body, a structure, a kind of mechanism or organism that, if necessary, can be approached – and treated – as such, i.e., from the perspective of the ‘social engineers’, the ‘doctors’ who, after the dissection (tašrīḥ) of this body, will have found the defect and be able to remedy it.

AR: kātib, mufīd (fāʔidaẗ, fawāʔid), al-hayʔaẗ al-iǧtimāʕiyyaẗ, muḍirr (ḍarar)
EN: society

فإنّ أعاظم الرجال الذين أرادوا أنْ يضعوا للبشرية شرائع وأنظمة تؤدّي بها إلى السعادة الدائمة قد أخطئوا وأساءوا إلى المجتمع البشري من حيث أرادوا إسعاده .

fa-ʔinna ʔaʕāẓim al-riǧāl allaḏīna ʔarādū ʔan yaḍiʕū lil-bašariyyaẗ šarāʔiʕ wa-ʔanẓimaẗ tuʔaddī bi-hā ʔilà ’l-saʕādaẗ al-dāʔimaẗ qad ʔaḫṭaʔū wa-ʔasāʔū ʔilà ’l-muǧtamaʕ al-bašarī min ḥayṯ^u ʔarādū ʔisʕāda-h.

Those “giant men” who wanted to lay down for humanity rules and laws that would lead them into eternal happiness have actually failed; they did more harm to human society than making it happier.

AR: bašariyyaẗ (bašar), šarāʔiʕ (šarīʕaẗ), ʔanẓimaẗ (niẓām), ḫaṭaʔ, ʔasāʔa (ʔisāʔaẗ), muǧtamaʕ bašarī
EN: …

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