- English translation
A falcon remains a falcon, proud to the last: it would rather starve than stoop to carrion.
- Literal wording
The falcon is a falcon and has high resolve; it dies of hunger, it does not come down upon a carcass.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds up the falcon (السقر, a colloquial spelling of الصقر) as a model of self-respect: a creature of high spirit that hunts live prey and would sooner starve than descend on a رمة, a rotting carcass. The proud hunter is set against the scavenger feeding on decay.
Applied to people, it describes someone of noble character and lofty aims who will not stoop to base or humiliating means, even when poor and in real need. Hardship tests their pride without breaking it. The closing rhyme of همه and رمه gives the saying a compact two-part shape.
- When it is used
Use it to praise someone who keeps their dignity under hardship, such as a person who refuses a degrading favor, a shameful job, or charity offered with contempt, even when badly in need. It can also gently urge someone not to lower themselves.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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