- English translation
Plant 'if only,' water it with 'I wish,' and the fruit you reap is 'no use at all.'
- Literal wording
I planted a tree of 'if it had been,' and I watered it with water of 'oh, I wish'; it brought forth 'nothing comes of it.'
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures regret as gardening. The phrases 'if it had been' and 'oh, I wish' serve as names for the seed and the water, and the tree bears a single crop, 'nothing comes of it.' Nursing such thoughts may feel like effort, but it yields nothing of value.
It is applied once something is already decided or has already happened. At that point, wishing things had gone differently cannot alter the result. The proverb urges accepting what is done instead of dwelling on alternatives that can no longer be.
- When it is used
Suitable as a gentle rebuke or wry comment when someone keeps lamenting what might have been after an outcome is already settled. It discourages fruitless regret and is better suited to familiar conversation than to formal consolation.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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