ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«زَيِّ أُمِّ الْعَرُوسَهْ فَاضْيَهْ وِمَشْبُوكَهْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Like the bride's mother: nothing to do, yet no time to spare.

Literal wording

Like the bride's mother: unoccupied and tied up.

Meaning and lesson

The saying describes a person who is at once idle and fully absorbed. Like a mother whose daughter is marrying, she carries no formal responsibility for the event, yet her mind stays fixed on it. The second term, literally hooked or entangled, here means preoccupied, not physically bound: she looks free but cannot settle.

More broadly, it points to the gap between outward leisure and inner preoccupation. It can gently tease someone who fusses over another person's business, appearing overworked though the concrete work and the outcome rest with somebody else. The image is illustrative, not a criticism of mothers.

When it is used

Use it, usually lightly, for someone who has no actual task yet seems constantly busy or distracted, especially when the preoccupation concerns an event or matter that really belongs to another person.

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