ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«وَجَعْ سَاعَهْ وَلَا كُل سَاعَهْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Better to hurt for a moment than to hurt all the time.

Literal wording

Pain of one hour and not of every hour.

Meaning and lesson

The proverb sets a single spell of pain against pain that never lets up, and it sides firmly with the single spell. Enduring one hard hour is judged a better bargain than carrying a hurt that returns hour after hour.

Its clearest application is to healing: the sting of a remedy or procedure is sharp but ends, while an illness left untreated keeps hurting for a long time. Choosing the cure, painful as it is, spares the sufferer that drawn-out misery.

When it is used

Fits moments when someone shrinks from a painful remedy or medical procedure; the saying nudges them to accept the short discomfort of the cure instead of enduring an ailment that lingers on untreated.

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