- English translation
"Mother-in-law, weren't you once a daughter-in-law yourself?" "I was, but I've forgotten."
- Literal wording
They said: O mother-in-law, were you not a daughter-in-law? She said: I was, and I forgot.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures a mother-in-law (حما) reminded that she, too, was once a كنّة, a son's wife living under an older woman's authority. Her reply, admitting it but claiming to have forgotten, exposes how easily people let go of the memory of their own hardship once their circumstances improve.
The household scene is only an image: the saying targets a pattern of behavior, not mothers-in-law as a group. It criticizes anyone who passes from one situation into another and then treats others with the same harshness they once received, as if a changed position had erased the memory.
- When it is used
Used to rebuke anyone, in any role, who after moving from a weaker position into a stronger one treats others with the same severity they once endured, reminding them that they were once in those people's place.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: "Mother-in-law, weren't you once a daughter-in-law yourself?" "I was, but I've forgotten."