- English translation
With money, a person is at home even far from home.
- Literal wording
A person's wealth in a foreign land is a homeland.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb claims that riches can take the place of a native land. Someone with ample resources who lives among strangers still enjoys the security, comfort and standing usually tied to home, so being far from where they were born weighs on them only lightly.
The saying hinges on the contrast between al-ghurba, the state of being a stranger abroad, and watan, the homeland. By equating wealth with watan, it treats belonging as something material circumstances can provide, rather than a bond that depends solely on birth, kin or ancestry.
- When it is used
Suitable when remarking on someone living abroad whose prosperity has let them settle in with ease, or when observing, perhaps wryly, that distance from home feels very different depending on how much money a person has.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: With money, a person is at home even far from home.