- English translation
“What a blessing, mosque: this happened through you, not through me.”
- Literal wording
“A blessing, O mosque: what came from you did not come from me.”
- Meaning and lesson
The image is of someone addressing a mosque whose closure supplies an excuse: the outcome arose from the mosque, rather than from the speaker’s own failure or choice. The speaker welcomes this as release from blame and embarrassment; the mosque reference belongs to the proverb’s imagery.
Applied to a quarrel or estrangement, it expresses satisfaction when the other party’s conduct creates grounds for a break. The speaker casts that conduct as the cause of the separation and themself as not responsible, so the expression can sound accusatory.
- When it is used
Used amid estrangement or dispute when one party believes the other has created grounds for cutting contact. It stresses that the break was provoked elsewhere and that the speaker should not be blamed for starting it, though this framing may accuse the other party.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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