- English translation
He prepares the remedy before He sends the trial.
- Literal wording
Before He afflicts, He arranges.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying expresses the belief that when God sends a hardship, He has already prepared the means to soften it. The unstated subject is God, who both permits the trial and arranges relief; it is not secular advice to plan ahead. Misfortune comes with some measure of grace or provision.
In practice the phrase reframes a calamity as a bearable, even merciful test rather than mere punishment. It invites the sufferer, or those watching, to notice the mitigating circumstances surrounding a loss and to read them as signs of gentle divine care rather than as mere luck.
- When it is used
Suitable for comforting someone after a misfortune that proved less severe than feared or came with unexpected help. It voices trust in God's care as a test met with kindness, fitting pious, consoling talk rather than casual banter or secular advice to plan ahead.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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