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Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«عِينِ الْعَدُو تْبَانْ وِلَهَا زَبَانْ»

Meanings

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Meaning: Verified
English translation

An enemy's eye gives him away, and it stings.

Literal wording

The enemy's eye shows, and it has a sting.

Meaning and lesson

However carefully a hostile person guards his words and manners, his gaze lets the hidden resentment slip out. The eye does not literally appear; rather, hostility becomes plain to see through it, and the look often discloses what face and speech try to hide.

The saying also stresses that such a look does harm. A spiteful stare is pictured as a scorpion or wasp striking with its barb, not a tooth or fang, delivering a sharp emotional wound to whoever receives it, even when no hostile word is spoken.

When it is used

Fits moments when someone senses ill will in another person's gaze despite polite words, or when warning a friend that a rival's looks betray resentment. It works as a knowing remark about concealed hostility rather than as a direct accusation.

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