«السَّاهِي تَحْتْ رَاسُهْ دَوَاهِي»

The proverb warns that a person who appears dreamy, inattentive, or gentle may in fact be calculating and crafty. A calm, unassuming exterior is treated as a possible mask, and the listener is told not to trust it at face value. Though the subject is grammatically masculine, the warning applies regardless of gender.

It targets the person who deliberately plays the innocent or the oblivious while quietly plotting. The image places a store of tricks just beneath the head. The word for 'calamities' also evokes shrewdness and guile, so it points both to hidden cunning and to the trouble it brings.

Used as a warning when someone seems mild, distracted, or harmless, urging listeners not to lower their guard, or wryly after a seemingly docile person reveals unexpected scheming. Its suspicion of quiet people is not a fair general rule; aimed at a specific person, it can sound like an accusation.