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 .
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.
[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
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،
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.
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
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.