- English translation
The freeloader's own hand told him: whatever you mean to give away, eat it yourself.
- Literal wording
A lowly hanger-on: his palm said to him, "What you would hand out, gulp it down yourself."
- Meaning and lesson
A person who survives on what others give him has no business playing the benefactor. Whatever he is tempted to distribute would serve him better if he consumed it himself, since his own needs remain unmet. The saying pictures his very hand speaking up to stop the show of charity.
The humor comes from a reversal: the hand meant to pass gifts along turns and addresses its owner instead. In Arabic, kaffuh (his palm) rhymes with siffuh (gulp it down), giving the line its punch. The scene mocks charity offered by someone who is himself a burden, insisting he has the strongest claim to it.
- When it is used
Aimed with sarcasm at someone who depends on others yet acts generous, handing out what he can ill spare. Its key word, ʿawīl, is a contemptuous label for a lowly dependent, so the saying insults its target; it is a pointed rebuke, not friendly advice.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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