- English translation
You'll know the end of the world has come when water pours from the walls and light shines along a string.
- Literal wording
The sign of the Resurrection: when you drink from the wall and see the light in the thread.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying lists two impossible-sounding wonders as omens of the Last Day: drinking water that comes out of a wall, as from a tap rather than from the masonry itself, and seeing light glow inside a thread or string. To its first hearers these images marked the far edge of imagination, things only the world's end could bring.
Later speakers read the old saying as solved by technology: taps set in walls, and wires carrying light. This link is a later interpretation, not a proven prediction or genuine prophecy. The line can voice ironic wonder or mock alarm at modern life. The rhyming pair hīṭ (wall) and khīṭ (thread) makes it memorable.
- When it is used
Use it humorously or wistfully when people marvel at modern conveniences such as running water and electric light, which older generations found unthinkable. It suits talk about how the world has changed, not serious religious discussion of the end times or claims of fulfilled prophecy.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic; a popular saying of ordinary people
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: You'll know the end of the world has come when water pours from the walls and light shines along a string.