«اِلرِّبْعِيَّهْ عَلِّمِتُ امَّهَا الرِّعِيَّهْ»

The image shows an offspring, the rib'iyya, instructing its own mother in grazing, a skill the mother would normally pass down. The exact creature meant by the word is uncertain, but the expected order of teaching is clearly turned around, so the one who should be learning becomes the teacher.

Applied to people, the saying points to a reversal in which someone expected to learn instructs an elder or a more established figure. Two tones remain possible and neither should be assumed: mockery of presumption, or acknowledgment that the younger one genuinely knows better.

Fits moments when a younger or newer person instructs someone they would normally be expected to learn from. Because the saying may be either teasing or approving, a speaker should let the situation make clear which attitude is meant.