- English translation
Better for a dog to go a bit hungry and rest than to eat its fill and wear itself out.
- Literal wording
The dog's hunger along with his rest, rather than his fullness along with his roaming out.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that a modest share enjoyed in peace is worth more than plenty that costs constant strain, especially the strain of going out to hunt for one's living. Going a little short, not truly starving, is presented as a fair price for being left alone, while abundance won through exhausting effort is a poor bargain.
It works as practical advice about trade-offs. When gains demand wearing toil, restlessness, or trouble, the proverb sides with restraint and ease. It treats contentment with a partial portion as the wiser choice and quietly questions the urge to chase full satisfaction at any cost.
- When it is used
Say it when someone weighs a calmer arrangement against a more lucrative but exhausting one, such as a modest job versus a demanding, better-paid post. It favors tranquility over surplus and can justify one's contentment with less. The dog is a neutral image, not an insult to the listener.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic, proverbial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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