- English translation
"How did you come to own all these flocks?" "My Lord provided them."
- Literal wording
"What is with you, a keeper of livestock?" He said: "From my Lord."
- Meaning and lesson
In one reading, a man who keeps herds and has grown wealthy is challenged about how he came to have so much. His reply attributes all of it to God's generosity toward him.
Another reading is also possible: the questioner's word may describe someone well brought up or refined in manners rather than a herd owner. On that reading, he is asked where his good upbringing came from, and he again names God as its source.
- When it is used
Fits an exchange in which someone is asked where their possessions, or on the second reading their good upbringing, came from, and they reply by attributing them to God.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: "How did you come to own all these flocks?" "My Lord provided them."