«اِلْغَرَقْ وَلَا الشَّرَقْ»

The saying weighs two farming disasters tied to the Nile's yearly rise. Al-gharaq here means fields submerged by floodwater, not a person drowning; al-sharaq means land the flood never reached, not 'the east'. The flood is preferred because once it recedes a farmer can still sow a different crop. Parched ground offers no such second chance.

More broadly, it states a preference for a harm that leaves room to recover over one that closes off every option. The paired words gharaq and sharaq rhyme, which gives the comparison a compact, memorable shape.

Use it when choosing between two bad outcomes and favoring the damaging but recoverable one, such as an excess that causes trouble over a shortage that halts everything. It fits farming talk naturally and can extend figuratively to other hard choices.