Explore Arabic traditional proverbsReviewed 2026-10-31
Meaning: Verified- English translation
The flowers have gone; only the broken pot is left.
- Literal wording
Gone is the blossom, and the shattered flowerpot is left over.
- Meaning and lesson
The image is of a potted plant whose blossoms have disappeared, so that only the cracked clay pot that once held them is still there. The beauty and fragrance have departed, and the container, itself broken, is all that stays behind.
Applied to life, the saying marks a change for the worse: the part of a situation that was prized or delightful has slipped away, and what lingers is a broken shell of what used to be.
- When it is used
Say it ruefully when something that once flourished has lost its best part, and only a battered remainder of the former state is left to look at.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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