«عَلَى قَدِّ حِجْلَكْ مِد رِجْلَكْ»

The saying tells a person not to go beyond their own bounds. Its image pairs the leg with the anklet worn on it and asks that the stretch of the leg match that measure, so that a person's conduct stays within what properly belongs to them.

As advice, it counsels restraint and a sense of proportion, treating one's own measure as the limit of what one should attempt. The rhyme between ḥijlak and rijlak gives the Arabic a neat, memorable ring that is lost in English.

Say it to someone who seems ready to overstep their own limits, as a brief reminder to keep what they do in proportion to their proper measure. It serves as a caution against going beyond one's bounds.