- English translation
If the thunder reached your ears, the rain will soon be before your eyes.
- Literal wording
Whoever heard the thunder with his ear saw the rain with his eye.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pairs two senses: thunder reaches the ear first, and rain soon follows for the eye to witness. It is not weather lore; thunder and rain stand for a warning and the trouble that follows it. Whoever receives a warning should expect its substance to arrive, not treat the noise as empty.
It is aimed at a person who was cautioned about some matter, heard the warning but paid it no attention, and before long found himself caught in exactly what he had been told about. The Arabic sets 'his ear' against 'his eye', and the two endings chime with each other.
- When it is used
Use it about someone who was told plainly that trouble was coming, shrugged it off, and then ran straight into it. It can serve as a pointed reminder after the fact or as a nudge to take a current warning seriously.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: If the thunder reached your ears, the rain will soon be before your eyes.