ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«طِلْعِتْ مِنْ طُرْبِتْهَا وَفَتْ كُتْبِتْهَا»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

She rose from the very grave to carry out the lot written for her.

Literal wording

She came up out of her grave and went off to fulfil what was written for her.

Meaning and lesson

The saying insists that whatever has been decreed for a person will come to pass, and that the person is pushed toward it with no real choice. It exaggerates this to make inevitability vivid: not even death can stop the destined course, since the woman climbs out of her tomb to complete it.

The word for the written lot carries a narrow, pejorative sense here, pointing to a fate of prostitution or shameful conduct, so the line passes gendered moral judgment on a woman. The two halves rhyme, pairing the word for her grave with the word for her written portion.

When it is used

Said scornfully or with grim resignation of a woman seen as driven irresistibly toward disreputable behaviour, as if bound by destiny. Its fatalism and implied sexual misconduct make it a serious insult, not a neutral remark about fate; it should not be applied to anyone.

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