The Monsoon Bride | عَرُوسُ الخَرِيفِ
"A young woman awaits her beloved's return during the monsoon season in Dhofar"
عَرُوسُ الخَرِيفِ
The Monsoon Bride
الفصلُ الأَوَّلُ: الوَعْدُ تَحْتَ المَطَرِ
Chapter One: The Promise Under the Rain
فِي صَلالَةَ المُخْضَرَّةِ، حَيْثُ يَأْتِي الخَرِيفُ مَحْمُولاً عَلى أَجْنِحَةِ الرِّياحِ المَوْسِمِيَّةِ، عاشَتْ نُورَةُ بِنْتُ سالِمٍ. كانَتْ أَجْمَلَ فَتَياتِ ظَفارَ، وَقَلْبُها مَعْقُودٌ عَلى فارِسٍ يُدْعَى عِيسَى.
In green Salalah, where autumn comes carried on the wings of monsoon winds, there lived Noura bint Salim. She was the most beautiful of Dhofar's maidens, and her heart was bound to a knight named Isa.
قَبْلَ عامٍ، جاءَها تَحْتَ المَطَرِ الخَرِيفِيِّ وَقالَ: «يا نُورَةُ، سَأُسافِرُ لِلتِّجارَةِ. وَحِينَ أَعُودُ، سَأَخْطُبُكِ مِنْ أَبِيكِ.»
A year ago, he came to her under the autumn rain and said: "O Noura, I shall travel for trade. When I return, I shall ask your father for your hand."
قالَتْ لَهُ: «سَأَنْتَظِرُكَ حَتَّى لَوْ جَفَّتِ الأَرْضُ وَتَوَقَّفَ الخَرِيفُ.»
She said to him: "I shall wait for you even if the earth dries and the monsoon ceases."
الفصلُ الثَّانِي: الاِنْتِظارُ الطَّوِيلُ
Chapter Two: The Long Wait
مَرَّ الخَرِيفُ وَذَهَبَ، وَلَمْ يَعُدْ عِيسَى. جاءَ الصَّيْفُ الحارُّ، ثُمَّ الشِّتاءُ البارِدُ، ثُمَّ الرَّبِيعُ، وَهِيَ تَنْتَظِرُ.
The monsoon passed and went, and Isa did not return. The hot summer came, then the cold winter, then spring, and she waited.
جاءَها الخُطَّابُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكانٍ. تُجَّارٌ أَغْنِياءُ وَرُؤَساءُ قَبائِلَ. لَكِنَّها رَفَضَتْهُمْ جَمِيعًا.
Suitors came to her from everywhere. Rich merchants and tribal chiefs. But she refused them all.
قالَ لَها أَبُوها غاضِبًا: «إِلى مَتَى سَتَنْتَظِرِينَ شَبَحًا؟ رُبَّما ماتَ فِي البَحْرِ!»
Her father said to her angrily: "Until when will you wait for a ghost? Perhaps he died at sea!"
قالَتْ بِثَباتٍ: «قَلْبِي يُخْبِرُنِي أَنَّهُ حَيٌّ. سَأَنْتَظِرُ.»
She said firmly: "My heart tells me he is alive. I shall wait."
الفصلُ الثَّالِثُ: عَوْدَةُ الحَبِيبِ
Chapter Three: The Return of the Beloved
فِي الخَرِيفِ التَّالِي، حِينَ بَدَأَ الضَّبابُ يَنْزِلُ عَلى الجِبالِ وَالأَمْطارُ تَهْطِلُ، سَمِعَتْ نُورَةُ طَرْقًا عَلى البابِ.
The following autumn, when mist began to descend on the mountains and rain began to fall, Noura heard a knock at the door.
فَتَحَتْ فَوَجَدَتْ عِيسَى واقِفًا، شَعْرُهُ مُبَلَّلٌ بِالمَطَرِ، وَفِي يَدِهِ صُنْدُوقٌ مِنَ الخَشَبِ. قالَ: «سامِحِينِي يا نُورَةُ. احْتَجَزَنِي قَراصِنَةٌ عامًا كامِلاً، لَكِنَّنِي هَرَبْتُ. وَأَحْضَرْتُ لَكِ مَهْرًا يَلِيقُ بِكِ.»
She opened it and found Isa standing there, his hair wet with rain, and in his hand a wooden box. He said: "Forgive me, O Noura. Pirates held me captive for a full year, but I escaped. And I have brought you a dowry worthy of you."
فَتَحَ الصُّنْدُوقَ، فَإِذا فِيهِ لُؤْلُؤٌ أَبْيَضُ كَدُمُوعِ القَمَرِ.
He opened the box, and in it were white pearls like tears of the moon.
تَزَوَّجا فِي ذَلِكَ الخَرِيفِ، وَالمَطَرُ يُبارِكُ زَفافَهُما. وَصارَتْ قِصَّتُهُما أُغْنِيَةً يُغَنِّيها أَهْلُ ظَفارَ فِي كُلِّ مَوْسِمٍ.
They married that autumn, and the rain blessed their wedding. Their story became a song that the people of Dhofar sing every season.
تَمَّتِ القِصَّةُ | The End