«وَعْدِ الْحُر دِينْ»

A promise made by a person of noble character carries the same weight as money owed. Here دين means debt, not religion, and الحر means a high-minded person rather than simply a free one. Once spoken, a promise creates an obligation that must be settled, and a decent person cannot simply walk away from it.

The saying states an ideal of conduct rather than describing how promises are treated in any community. It treats keeping one's word as a mark of honor and breaking a pledge as shameful, like defaulting on a debt, since it withholds what the other person was rightly led to expect.

Suitable for reminding someone, or oneself, that a pledge must be honored. It can also reassure a listener that a commitment will be kept, or gently reproach a person who is treating a promise lightly.