- English translation
A single loaf from flour I scraped together myself is enough to keep me going.
- Literal wording
A loaf from my millstone mat (the cloth spread under the hand mill to catch falling flour) sets my condition right.
- Meaning and lesson
A small amount earned by one's own effort is enough to get by. The image is a lone loaf baked from the flour that collects on the mat beneath a hand mill: a meager yield won through hard work, yet enough to keep the speaker's life in balance.
The saying also links this modest, self-won share to independence. Because it meets the speaker's needs, there is no call to ask others for anything or to depend on what they own. The worth lies in self-earned sufficiency and dignity, not in poverty for its own sake.
- When it is used
Use it when someone would rather live on a modest return from their own work than lean on others, or to commend a person who is content with little but self-earned means. It suits talk of self-reliance, dignity, and declining to ask for help.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: A single loaf from flour I scraped together myself is enough to keep me going.