- English translation
Ties formed by marriage are as fragile as milk, and the slightest thing can spoil them.
- Literal wording
Kinship is like milk; the least thing changes it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying uses nasab in the sense of affinity, the bond that marriage creates between a family and its in-laws, rather than descent by blood. Its image of milk, which curdles or turns at the smallest jolt and cannot easily be restored, presents such ties as delicate and quick to break.
The point is fragility rather than strength: a mild quarrel or a flash of resentment can damage a bond that marriage alone brought into being. The proverb therefore reads as a caution to guard these connections carefully and to avoid even small offences.
- When it is used
Speakers use this saying when discussing relations between families joined by marriage, warning that such bonds are easily strained and should be guarded from even minor disputes. It fits advice to avoid quarrels with in-laws or to treat a small slight with patience.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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