- English translation
You who keep living creatures, care for them as anxiously as a mourner grieves.
- Literal wording
O keeper of souls, be a wailer over it.
- Meaning and lesson
Whoever takes animals into his keeping is urged to be gentle and attentive toward them, making sure they are regularly fed and watered. Having living creatures in one's charge is presented as a responsibility that calls for compassion rather than mere possession.
The figure of the nawwāḥ, a person who laments, is figurative and does not mean literal mourning over a dead animal: the keeper should feel the animals' needs as keenly as a mourner feels loss. In Arabic, arwāḥ ('souls') and nawwāḥ ('one who laments') close the two halves with a matching rhyme.
- When it is used
Suited to reminding someone who keeps livestock, working animals or pets that having them carries a daily duty of care, above all dependable food and water, along with steady concern for the creatures' welfare.
- Register
- Colloquial proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: You who keep living creatures, care for them as anxiously as a mourner grieves.