- English translation
Has the world ever stayed faithful to anyone, you fool?
- Literal wording
She, for whom has she lasted, O fool?
- Meaning and lesson
The saying asks a rhetorical question about the world and its favors: for whom has it ever stayed? The pronoun هي stands for the world or worldly fortune, left unstated. The expected answer is no one, so the person addressed has no reason to think fortune will make an exception for him.
Its sting lies in calling the listener هبيل, a fool or simpleton, an openly insulting address that marks his self-assurance as naive vanity. It targets pride grounded in wealth or social standing, warning that such advantages are passing.
- When it is used
Aimed at someone swaggering over money, rank or influence as though it were permanent. The speaker uses it to puncture that confidence, reminding the person that fortune abandons everyone eventually. Because it directly insults the listener as a fool, it suits rebuke or mockery rather than gentle advice.
- Register
- Colloquial; a sharp, mocking rebuke
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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