- English translation
Many a little one has grown and risen until the big one kissed his hand.
- Literal wording
How many a little one grew up, and the big one kissed his hand.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying observes that someone who starts out small can grow up and excel, rising so far that the one who was once bigger ends up kissing his hand. It describes a reversal in which the lesser party becomes the one shown honor.
The Arabic leaves 'small' and 'big' unspecified, so they could point to age, size, or standing. The line scans in a classical meter and may be a fragment of a longer sung verse rather than a standalone proverb; this is unsettled. The meter is lost in English.
- When it is used
Suited to commenting on someone who began small and rose far enough that a person once bigger than them came to kiss their hand. The reversal of positions between the small one and the big one is the heart of the remark.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic, metrical (basit meter)
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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