«مَا كُل مَنْ صَفَّ الْأَوَانِي قَالْ: أَنَا حَلَوَانِي»

The saying separates looking the part from having real skill. A sweet-maker's shop may be full of neatly arranged dishes, but setting out dishes is the easy, visible part. The actual craft of making sweets is something else, and copying the display gives no claim to it.

More broadly, it warns against judging people by imitation or surface resemblance. Someone who adopts the tools, manner, or trappings of an expert has not thereby become one. Competence has to be shown in the work itself, not inferred from props.

Use it when someone copies the outward signs of a trade, role, or skill and then claims the expertise that goes with it. It suits a gently sceptical or mocking remark about imitators, pretenders, or newcomers who mistake appearance for ability.