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Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«سِكِّةْ أَبُو زِيدْ كُلَّهَا مَسَالِكْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

On Abu Zayd's road, every way gets you through.

Literal wording

Abu Zayd's road is all paths.

Meaning and lesson

The image draws on Abu Zayd, a Hilali horseman from a familiar folk tale who is remembered for his courage. Rough or frightening ground never held him back, so any road he took was effectively open. To call something his road is to say that nothing on it truly blocks the way forward.

The word rendered as 'paths' joins two ideas: many branching routes, and routes that can actually be travelled. In practice the saying describes a way whose several passable branches all reach the same place. By extension it applies to any aim or task that can be achieved through more than one approach.

When it is used

Use it when reassuring someone that a destination or goal can be reached in several ways, so no single blocked route is a real setback. It fits literal talk about roads as well as figurative talk about plans, solutions, or methods.

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