- English translation
Meager provisions are worthless, and so is a Nile flood that arrives in Tut.
- Literal wording
There is no good in provisions that come scanty, nor in a Nile that comes in Tut.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying sets two letdowns side by side: provisions that turn up in short supply, and a Nile flood that comes in the month of Tut, later than it should. In each case the hoped-for thing does appear, yet it falls short of what was wanted.
A flood in Tut is faulted for its lateness, since by then the sorghum (dhura) that growers counted on for their food has missed its watering. Both quantity and timing decide whether a thing is worth having. In Arabic, mashhut and tut rhyme, linking the two halves.
- When it is used
Suited to remarks about help, supplies or opportunities that are too meager or arrive too late to serve their purpose, especially where a need is pressing and timing decides whether something is useful. Its imagery draws on farming life along the Nile.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Meager provisions are worthless, and so is a Nile flood that arrives in Tut.