ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«اِلشَّاطْرَه تْقُولْ لِلْفُرْنْ قُودْ مِنْ غِيْرْ وُقُودْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

A truly capable woman can tell the oven to blaze even when there is nothing to feed it.

Literal wording

The clever woman says to the oven: burn, without any fuel.

Meaning and lesson

The saying praises a capable, resourceful woman who seems able to make her household oven burn without fuel. The command is deliberate exaggeration: it credits her with remarkable skill in managing scarce supplies, not supernatural powers. The oven stands for work that would ordinarily require materials she apparently lacks.

Beyond the image, the point is practical cleverness in managing affairs: a capable person finds ways to accomplish what defeats others, stretching or substituting for missing means. It praises ingenuity and good management rather than wealth or abundant supplies.

When it is used

Fits moments of admiration for someone, especially a woman managing a home, who gets results from scant resources. Said approvingly of her ingenuity, or perhaps half-jokingly when she pulls off something that seemed impossible with what was at hand.

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