- English translation
Tobacco but no coffee: a sultan with no fur cloak.
- Literal wording
Tobacco without coffee; a sultan without a fur.
- Meaning and lesson
At its core, the saying judges a host who hands a visitor tobacco to smoke, whether rolled or in a pipe, yet serves no coffee. Such a welcome counts as only half done: the guest receives one sign of generosity while the companion gesture that should accompany it is missing, so the hospitality falls short.
The second half sets beside this the figure of a sultan without his fur cloak, the garment worn on the body. How that picture bears on the point remains open: it may simply restate the first image in another form, or it may carry a further sense that cannot be pinned down here.
- When it is used
Fits remarks about a host who offers a guest something to smoke but leaves out the coffee, marking that welcome as falling short of full generosity. Apply it to that hospitality situation rather than stretching the sultan image toward a specific meaning of its own.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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