- English translation
My dear boy, you came in the dark and you left in the dark.
- Literal wording
O my son, O you who gladden me, you came by night and you went by night.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying rebukes a person who contradicts or dismisses a claim without any first-hand knowledge of the matter. Like someone who arrived after dark and left before daylight, they had no opportunity to observe what happened. That leaves them no real basis for passing judgment on it.
The speaker addresses the doubter warmly as a son who brings joy, then points out that both his coming and his going took place in darkness. The doubled reference to night frames the whole visit as blind, so whatever he denies lay entirely beyond his sight.
- When it is used
Said in reply to someone who flatly denies or disputes an account of events they never saw or learned about, pointing out that their objection rests on no real knowledge of the matter.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: My dear boy, you came in the dark and you left in the dark.