Arabic proverbs

Rich and poor alike end up in the grave.

Death makes no distinction between people of wealth and people of modest means.

“What did you inherit?” “Just one young goat—and it died.”

The answer names a single, modest inheritance: a young goat. Its death leaves the recipient without even that small piece of property.

Your father left you empty-handed, and your uncle will not provide for you either.

The saying warns against treating help from relatives as a secure way to meet one’s needs. Kinship alone does not guarantee that someone will provide money or other support.

In that crowd, you could lose sight of even your father or brother.

A gathering is so large and confused that even familiar people are hard to pick out.

Even someone with a hundred sheep can envy a person who has just one.

Having plenty does not always put an end to envy. The person with a large flock still covets the single sheep belonging to someone with far less.

My family gave me little standing, but my husband raised my status.

A woman from a humble family may gain social standing and recognition through marriage.

Well, guest, the house was never yours.

However warmly a visitor is received, that welcome does not give them the place or standing of a member of the household.

Make an owl your guide, and ruins will be your destination.

Following someone seen as ill-omened and unsound in judgment can lead to misfortune.

Let the liar go on until the facts catch up.

Instead of arguing with someone you suspect is lying, allow the claim to meet a test that may expose it.

Say something in a group, and you may soon see who bears you ill will.

The way people respond when you speak can disclose their feelings toward you, including concealed dislike.

Hone your cupping skills on orphans, who are less able to object if you make a mistake.

It condemns gaining experience by making vulnerable people bear the risks of one's mistakes.

Understand harmful practices without taking part in them.

Knowing how harm is done can help a person recognize and guard against it; that knowledge is no reason to harm others.

Save your tall tales for people who don’t know you.

False claims about oneself are harder to sustain around people who know the truth.

Everyone is here now; the gathering is complete.

The saying marks a gathering as complete. The people who make up the group have come together, and no one remains away.

Za'rud found his match in Zarifa.

Two people have found one another and make a particularly fitting pair.

Feign submission until you can take charge.

When others hold power, apparent humility can serve as a tactic until one is free to pursue one’s own aims.

One unlucky soul found another.

Two people marked by similar misfortune have come together.

The payoff isn’t worth the trouble.

The benefit of an undertaking is too small to justify the effort it requires.

The tailor’s payment is secure while he holds the garment.

A claim is safer when the person owed has practical means to ensure it is honored.

Run faster and take longer strides? That would wear me out.

An objection to being asked to do more than one can manage.

Keep rushing around while someone else enjoys the comfort.

A person who does no work may benefit from someone else’s efforts.

A generous giver is worth more than the gold they give.

The generosity behind a valuable gift deserves greater admiration than the gift itself.

My dear bracelet, you are precious to me—but this arm comes first.

The speaker values the bracelet but refuses to place it on the same level as the arm that wears it. The closing refusal turns a seeming declaration of equal affection into a ranking.

With breath like that, where am I supposed to kiss you?

The speaker faces an awkward puzzle: someone is close enough to kiss, but her bad breath makes it hard to imagine where a kiss could comfortably land.

Prepare for headwinds, even if God sends a favorable breeze.

Plan for setbacks; preparation is not wasted when things go well.

See to your own affairs, and you may have more to show for it.

The proverb urges a person to take a direct hand in matters that affect them. Personal attention is presented as a way to improve the outcome rather than leaving everything to others.

A fool starts offering advice just when there is no time for it.

Poorly timed advice can be more of a hindrance than a help. Choosing an urgent moment to give it shows a lack of judgment.

This was between two people—where did a third come into it?

A third person is intruding into a matter that concerns only two people.

Are we reciting Sūrat ʿAbasa to you instead of talking to you?

An exasperated way to tell someone that they still have not understood a clear point after it has been explained repeatedly.

Just let me survive today, even if you kill me tomorrow.

A criticism of someone who cares only about getting through the present moment and disregards what may follow.

His sister is at the tavern, but he struts as though he were nobility.

A rebuke to someone who acts superior despite circumstances the speaker considers discreditable.

Borrowing feels good; paying it back stings.

The immediate benefit of borrowing can be more appealing than the obligation to repay.

Unable to speak, yet taking the judge’s seat.

The image places someone who cannot speak in a position where questioning the people before them is part of the work. The role demands an ability the person lacks.

Hold your mount back at first, and it may carry you into the lead by the end of the day.

The saying pictures a rider who holds a mount back early in the day and lets the others go ahead. In the image, by evening the same animal brings the rider to the front: the strength that was spared at the start is still there after the others have spent theirs. Read more widely, it advises pacing one's own effort. Strength spent on a fast start is not there later, and a measured beginning can leave enough in reserve to finish well.

Find your daughter a suitable husband before seeking a wife for your son.

Give particular care to a daughter’s marriage prospects. The saying assumes that a son has more power to leave an unhappy marriage than a daughter does.

With honest intentions, you can rest unafraid even in the wild.

The proverb encourages sincerity by presenting a clear conscience as a reason to feel unafraid.

Even a brother may wish you well without wishing you to surpass him.

Affection can have limits: someone may care about your life and welfare yet resent seeing you become more successful or independent than they are.

I’d sooner make do with a thorn for a needle than pay someone else to sew.

Use what you have and do a manageable job yourself instead of spending money unnecessarily.

If you borrow, use the money to grow a crop, not just to feed yourself.

Debt is more prudent when it supports work that may bring in enough to repay it than when it pays for something consumed at once.

In a bleak year, even the woman once overlooked can put on airs.

When better alternatives have disappeared, someone previously passed over may gain the power to make demands.

I may curse my child in anger, but I don’t want anyone else saying “Amen.”

A parent may speak harshly about a child without truly wishing them harm, and may resent anyone who takes those words to heart.

Entrust your child to someone who is a parent too.

Give a responsibility to someone whose firsthand experience helps them understand what it requires.

Confide only in someone you trust to keep your secret.

Choose a discreet person before sharing private information.

Trust the job to people who can do it well, even if they take a large share.

Skill can be worth a substantial sacrifice: a capable person may leave you with less, but an unskilled person could ruin the whole task.

I’ll take the bread, but only if it’s clean.

It mocks someone who asks for charity while making demands about what they will receive.

If I still have days left to live, the sea will not be my end.

The saying imagines someone surviving even after being thrown into the sea because their allotted lifetime has not ended. The danger is grave, but it cannot bring death before that time.

Let me have some wool now, even if you get a whole sheep from me tomorrow.

The speaker asks for some wool today and, in return, agrees that the listener will take a whole sheep from them tomorrow. The saying voices a plain preference for having something now over waiting: what can be had at once counts for more with the speaker than what will be handed over later, even though a sheep is worth far more than some wool. It belongs with sayings that favour the small thing in hand today over the larger thing that belongs to tomorrow.

When trouble reaches its peak, relief may be near.

The saying holds that distress, once it reaches its most severe point, begins to ease. It offers hope at the moment it seems least justified: the very intensity of a hardship is taken as a sign that relief may be close. Its lesson is to hold on through the worst of a difficulty rather than give up when it is at its heaviest.

• Compare: Someone going through a hard time needs encouragement that it will not last.

When good people arrive, the wicked disappear.

The upright and the corrupt do not belong together.

If it were worth keeping, the bird wouldn’t have tossed it aside.

Something discarded by one party may not be worth accepting from them.