- English translation
The patient one gets what he wants; the one who keeps pestering comes away empty-handed.
- Literal wording
Whoever was patient obtained, and whoever insisted has nothing.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying sets two attitudes side by side. The one who holds back and waits calmly ends up obtaining what was hoped for, while the one who keeps pushing, nagging or insisting ends up with nothing at all. Restraint is rewarded and pressure defeats itself.
Its two balanced halves, each opening with مِنْ ('whoever'), make the contrast sharp, and the colloquial مالوش ('he has nothing') closes it. لَجّ here means pestering or stubborn insistence, not steady perseverance, and the saying is not general advice to be passive: a person who forces matters or demands repeatedly tends to lose what is sought.
- When it is used
Suitable when someone keeps pressing, demanding or badgering to get something sooner, as a gentle reminder that calm waiting tends to bring results while insistence spoils them. It can also be used to reassure a person who chose patience over pressure.
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- Colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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