Explore Arabic traditional proverbsReviewed 2026-10-22
Meaning: Verified- English translation
The wealth amassed by forebears is squandered by their reckless descendants.
- Literal wording
What the grandfathers leave behind, the monkeys destroy.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying warns that wealth built through patience, labor, and restraint can quickly disappear when later heirs lack care, discipline, or sound judgment.
It contrasts the hardship of those who accumulate a family estate with the wastefulness of inheritors. Its animal comparison is deliberately contemptuous, so it should be used cautiously of identifiable people or families.
- When it is used
Used when heirs, or a younger generation more broadly, squander money, assets, or opportunities earned through the sustained effort of earlier family members.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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