- English translation
Anyone who takes a grave risk may return safely or meet disaster.
- Literal wording
Whoever climbs the date palm will either come down or fall and die.
- Meaning and lesson
Its force lies in a blunt two-way split. The saying leaves no room for a partial or comfortable result: a hazardous choice is reduced to survival or ruin, and the tall palm works as a vivid picture of how much is at stake once someone commits.
It may be applied to someone who knowingly embarks on a perilous course. Rather than celebrating daring, it underscores that courage does not remove the possibility of grave harm, even when a safe outcome remains possible.
- When it is used
Use it as a warning about a choice that involves real danger or serious stakes. It fits situations in which a person deliberately enters a hazardous venture and must reckon with the possibility of either safety or disaster.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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