- English translation
As long as mothers keep having children, nobody is the cleverest one alive.
- Literal wording
As long as the child-bearing woman keeps giving birth, there is no clever one upon the world.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying denies that anyone's skill is unmatched; it does not claim that nobody is capable. As long as children go on being born, the world keeps producing new people, and among them will be others just as skilled or competent. No one should believe their ability is so rare that its like will never appear again.
Its edge is aimed at conceit. It is addressed to someone whose pride in their own talent has become arrogance, reminding them that excellence is renewable and replaceable. Being admired today does not make a person indispensable or beyond comparison.
- When it is used
Use it to deflate someone who boasts that nobody can match their talent, or who acts as though they are irreplaceable. It works as a gentle or pointed reminder that others equally able will always come along.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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