- English translation
No sooner do we close one gap than we find a fresh one has opened.
- Literal wording
Every time we say it has been plugged up, we find another one has newly appeared.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying captures the frustration of patching one gap only to discover that another has already opened. Relief never arrives, because each solved difficulty is promptly replaced by a new one, so the speaker feels trapped in an endless cycle of repairs.
It can be applied to any run of needs, troubles, or obligations that keep multiplying; the Arabic never names what reopens, so the breach stays general. The tone is rueful rather than despairing: the speaker acknowledges the effort is real but recognizes the problems simply refuse to end.
- When it is used
Use it to voice weary exasperation when resolving one problem immediately gives way to another, as with household expenses, repairs, or recurring obligations. It suits informal complaint about an endless succession of difficulties, especially when each apparent solution brings only brief relief.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic, rhymed proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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