- English translation
"Imbaba's lupines beat almonds for sweetness!" "Sure, that's just something said to make the poor feel better."
- Literal wording
They said: "Imbaba lupine beans are sweeter than almonds." He said: "That is a soothing of the feelings of the poor."
- Meaning and lesson
The saying sets up a dialogue. One voice claims that cheap lupine beans from Imbaba, a Nile-side town (more formally Anbaba) known for soaking the bitter beans in the river before boiling and salting them, outdo costly almonds. A second voice deflates this as mere comfort for the poor, who eat lupines because almonds are beyond their means.
As a comment on others, it targets anyone who prefers the lesser option to the better one without real justification. It suggests that such praise is consolation, flattery, or making the best of necessity, and it should not be taken as an honest assessment of quality.
- When it is used
Applied to someone who ranks an inferior thing above a superior one without reason, the second line recasts the praise as polite comfort for those who cannot afford better. The tone is gently mocking.
- Region
- Egypt (Cairo area)
- Register
- Colloquial Egyptian Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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