<?
function cutstr($text,$len){
//source:http://www.sigsiu.net/forum/community-board-for-tips-tricks/how-to-limit-a-text-to-a-certain-length-without-cutting-the-last-word/
if( strlen( $text ) < $len ) {
   return $text;
} else {
   $cut_text = substr( $text, 0, $len ); //cut at 200 chars
   $last_space = strrpos( $cut_text, " " ); //find the position of the last space in the 200 chars text
   $short_text = substr( $cut_text, 0, $last_space ); //cut again at the last space
   $end_text = $short_text."..."; // add three dots
   return $end_text;
}}
############################
//echo cutstr("السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته",30);
//السلام عليكم...  
?>

function limit($text,$length=64,$tail="...") {
    $text = trim($text);
    $txtl = strlen($text);
    if($txtl > $length) {
        for($i=1;$text[$length-$i]!=" ";$i++) {
            if($i == $length) {
                return substr($text,0,$length) . $tail;
            }
        }
        $text = substr($text,0,$length-$i+1) . $tail;
    }
    return $text;
}

list($be, $af) = mb_split('<!-- pagebreak -->', $topcrow['content']);
echo " ".$be."";

جرب استعمال mb_split() أو preg_split