«هِيَّ الْقُطَّهْ تَاكُلَ اوْلَادْهَا»

A rhetorical question insisting that a parent's sternness has natural limits. However severe a mother or father may appear toward a child, the saying holds, the bond between them keeps that harshness from ever turning into real, lasting injury.

It can reassure someone who fears a parent's anger, or defend a parent's strictness as ultimately protective. The image rests on a folk assumption, not biological fact, that no mother cat would devour her own young, so the listener is meant to answer with an obvious no.

Suitable for calming a child, sibling, or friend who dreads a parent's punishment, or for suggesting that a parent's scolding is more bluster than danger. Because it minimizes parental harshness, it should never be used to excuse or downplay situations where genuine harm or abuse may be involved.