ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«كِلْمِةْ بُكْرَهْ زَرَعُوهَا مَا طِلْعِتْشْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

People once sowed 'tomorrow,' and nothing ever sprouted from it.

Literal wording

The word 'tomorrow': they planted it, and it did not come up.

Meaning and lesson

The saying pictures 'tomorrow' as a seed that people once put in the ground, only to find that it never broke the soil. Putting something off until the next day is shown as a planting that yields no harvest. The dialect negation means 'did not come up.'

In practice it expresses distrust toward assurances that are always deferred. A person who hears 'tomorrow' again and again learns that such words are empty, and the proverb advises against relying on vague pledges tied to some later day.

When it is used

Say it when someone keeps answering a request with 'tomorrow' and the matter never moves forward. It works as a dry, skeptical reply to deferral, voicing doubt that a postponed commitment will ever be honored. It can sting, so it suits frustration more than polite conversation.

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