沙特是世界头号石油生产和出口国。2005年8月1日，前国王法赫德病逝，王储阿卜杜拉·本·阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹同日继承王位。新国王身材魁梧，双目有神，声音洪亮。他下巴上的浓黑胡子总是很“有型”，这使他在众多阿拉伯大胡子领导人中格外醒目。在沙特人民心目中，他是“和蔼可亲的国王”、 “睿智的君主”，并享有“仁慈国王”之美誉。

　　Reform-minded Saudis cheered when Abdullah became King four years ago. The kind Custodian~ of the Holy Places, as Saudi monarchs title themselves, had a reputation for honesty, tolerance and humility that promised change for the better. Yet few of his tentative reforms have stuck. Initiatives~ to modernise state schools and courts have stalled in the face of rigid religious conservatives.

　　四年前，当阿卜杜拉接任沙特阿拉伯王位时，富有改革意识的沙特人一片欢腾。这位慈祥的“圣地守护者”(沙特君主这样自称)有着诚实、宽容和谦卑的美誉，并承诺国家会变得更好。然而，他的尝试性改革很少能够持久。试图建立现代化的公立学校和法院的新举措，因顽固宗教保守派的反对而停滞不前。

　　But in a move of rare boldness for the stately kingdom, on February 14th the 86-year-old King decreed~ sweeping changes in government. His reshuffle~ affected top posts in education, the courts, the armed forces, the central bank, the health and information ministries, the religious police and the state-appointed religious hierarchy'. as well as the royally-appointed, 150-man original parliament, the Shura Council

　　.但是，2月1 4日，这位86岁的国王以这个庄严国家颇为罕见的胆量颁布法令彻底改革政府机构。他的内阁改组触及到教育、法院、军队、中央银行、健康和信息部的高层职位，宗教警察和国家任命的宗教等级， 以及皇室任命的1 50人组成的原议会——修罗理事会。

　　It was not the scale of the turnover that raised eyebrows'; most senior ministers retained their posts. More striking was the injection of reformist blood into the dead school and court systems. With his background in intelligence, and as a son-in-law of the King, the new minister of education, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Muhammad, may be better equipped to flush out~ teachers who are failing to comply with~ curricula that have been revised to emphasize tolerance in Islam.

　　其实，并不是人员变动的规模令人大吃一惊;大部分最高级部长都留任原职。更引人注目的是，国王把改革派的血液注入死气沉沉的学校和法院系统。新任的教育部长费萨尔亲王阿卜杜拉..本·穆罕默德，有着情报部门的工作背景，而且是国王的女婿，更有可能驱逐不遵守新课程规定的老师，修订后的课程强调伊斯兰教的包容。

　　The departure of Sheikh Saleh Luhaydan as head of .the supreme judicial council, along with several other senior judges, suggests a new push to modernise the courts. Mr. Luhaydan was notorious for rulings" such 'as one that said it would be legal to kill the owners of TV channels broadcasting "immorality". During his term of office judges faced little pressure to adopt new rules meant to make the kingdom's unique and often harsh forms of sharia justice more open and consistent. Similarly, the sacking of the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will be seen as a Response to a chorus@ of demands to curb the morality police, whose puritanical agents have often been accused :of harassing' law-abiding citizens.

　　最高司法委员会首脑阿拉伯酋长萨利赫·伊本，连同其他一些高级法官的离职，推动着法院的现代化进程。伊本先生曾因一些判决而臭名昭著，例如，判决杀死播放“不道德”内容的电视频道所有人为合法。在他任职期间，法官几乎没有动力去推出新规则，以促使国内具有独特和严酷形式的伊斯兰教法更加开放和稳定。同样，解聘“弘扬美德和制止恶行委员会”会长一事被视为人们异口同声要求限制道德警察权力的回应，这些警察中的清教徒式的特工人员经常被指控骚扰遵纪守法的公民。

　　Equally significant, the new appointments are noticeably diverse. The 21-man board of senior clerics which issues official religious rulings, now for the first time includes representatives of all four schools of Sunni , Islam It, therefore, breaks the monopoly, exercised solely in Saudi Arabia, of the traditionalist Hanbali school associated with Wahhabism. The body still excludes , a minority numbering about 10% of Saudis that widespread discrimination'. But King Abdullah has compensated~ in part by increasing Shia representation in the Shura Council.

　　同样具有重大意义的是这些新任命有明显不同。由21位高级神职人员组成的理事会负责发布官方宗教裁定。它第一次包括了所有逊尼派伊斯兰教四个宗派的代表，因此打破了原本因循守旧的罕百里学派和瓦哈比教派联合在一起形成的垄断，这种垄断只在沙特地区存在。该机构仍然排斥什叶派(一个人口约占总人口10%且面临普遍歧视的少数民族)。但国王阿卜杜拉通过增加修罗理事会中什叶派代表的人数进行了部分补偿。

　　A far bigger slice of the population that has been kept to the margins of society, namely women, also got a boostt with the appointment of a female deputy minister,the highest-level government post yet to be filled by a woman. Nora al-Fayez, an American-educated schools administrator, is to run the girls' section of the ministry of education, a division managed until recently by Wahhabist clerics.

　　一直处于社会的边缘、人口相 对更多的一个群体——妇女，随着女性副大臣的任命，地位也得以提高。这是沙特有史以来女性担任的最高级别的官职。努拉·法伊兹女士是一位受过美国教育的学校行政管理人员，将负责教育部的女性教育事务。这个部门在不久前一直是由瓦哈比教派的神职人员管理。

　　Should such personnel changes give an impetus' to the deeper reforms that many Saudis long for, King Abdullah will have secured an important legacy. But a quite different reform, decreed by him three years ago, may bear fruit sooner. Addressing concerns that the line of succession to kingship, which traditionally passes between brothers before reaching their sons, would produce a series of brief reigns by very old people, King Abdullah created a 25-man family council to elect future kings.

　　如果这些人事调动能进一步推动许多沙特人渴望的深度改革，阿卜杜拉国王必将为后世留下一份宝贵遗产。但是，他三年前下令进行的一个迥异的改革，可能见效更快。为了解决王位继承问题，国王阿卜杜拉创建了一个25人家庭理事

　　The council was to meet only after his own brother had succeeded. But the current crown prince, Sultan, is in his 80s and said to be very ill. In all likelihood, it is the council that will choose Abdullah's successor. Even if restricted to a handful of senior princes from the Al Saud family, it might prove to be, the first quasi- democratic transition of power in Saudi history. It will be a momentous feat. But it will also set nerves jangling。

　　只有在他自己的弟弟继位后，议事会才开始运作。但目前的王储苏尔坦80多岁了，据说病得很厉害。十有八九，是由理事会来选择阿卜杜拉的接班人。即使挑选范围仅局限于阿尔沙特家族少数年长的王子们，也可能被证明是沙特历史上第一个半民主性质的权力过渡。这将是一个丰功伟绩。但它也会使保守者的神经紧张。

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