- English translation
A tiny date stone can keep a jar steady, and someone answers that it can hold up even the great water vat.
- Literal wording
A date pit props up the jar. He said: and it props up the big water vessel too.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb argues that size is a poor measure of importance. A date stone is almost nothing, yet wedged beneath a jar's base it keeps the vessel from tilting. A second voice, introduced by 'he said', answers and pushes further: it can steady even the zir, a far larger earthenware water vat.
As advice, it warns against scorning whatever looks trivial or humble, whether a person, an object or a modest effort. Large and impressive things often rest on minor supports that go unnoticed, and removing or neglecting those supports can bring down what seemed secure.
- When it is used
Say it when someone dismisses a minor person, tool or contribution as worthless, as a reminder that the whole arrangement may depend on it. It suits informal talk, where the playful two-voice exchange and the homely image of a propped vessel, not food, carry the point.
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- Colloquial Arabic proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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