Arabic Proverbs

People still say this but it's an old one.

The source is:

Proverbs of the non-Arabs, Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Khwārazmī (d. 993).

الأمثلة المولدة لمحمد بن العباس الخوارزمي، تحقيق محمد حسين الأعرجي

النَّاسُ بِزَمَانِهِمْ أَشْبَهُ مِنْهُمْ بِآبَائِهِمْ

Proverb of the day
🧬

"People resemble the times they live in more than they resemble their parents."

an-nāsu bi-zamānihim ashbahu minhum bi-ābāʾihim

قال أبو نصر الفارقيُّ يَصفُ شمْعَةً : ونَـديـمَـةٍ لي في الظـلامِ وحـيـدَةٍ مِـثـلـي ، مُـجـاهِـدَةٌ كـمِـثْـلِ جِـهـادي : فـالـلـونَ لـونـي ، والـدُّمُـوعَ مَـدامِـعـي ، والـقـلـبُ قـلـبـي ، والـسُّـهـادَ سُـهـادي لا فـرْقَ فـيـمـا بَـيْـنَـنـا لـو لـم يـكُـنْ لـهَـبـي خـفـيّـاً وهـوَ مـنـهـا بـادِ !

—Candle—
🕯️

My companion in darkness is
like me, lonely and struggling—

both sleepless, weeping, and pale,
our hearts are akin—

the only difference between us:
she flames brightly while I burn within.

—Abū Naṣr al-Fāriqī (Diyarbakır, d. 1094)

… just in case your timeline/the news cycle is getting you down, remember:

أنشدني عمي أبو منصور عبدالواحد بن محمد المسدد لابن لَنْكَك : جار الزمان علينا في تصرفه *** وأي دهرٍ على الأحرار لم يجر فبي من الهم ما لو أن أيسره **** يلقى على الفلك الدوار لم يَدُرِ

This age abuses us with its whims
but when did time treat anyone differently?

If the turning stars felt even one
of my troubles then they'd stop spinning.

—Ibn Lankak (Iraq, d. 970)

This is from a new proverb book, al-Amthāl al-Muwallada, Proverbs of the non-Arabs, by the Persian Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Khwārazmī (d. 993). He's different from al-Khwārazmī the mathematician.

يقولون في الشَّقِيِّ تَعَرَّضَ لما فيه هَلاكُهُ، وأَحَسَّ من نفسه قوةً: ١ - إذا أراد الله هلاك النملة أنبتَ لها جَناحين.

🐜

"When God wants to destroy an ant he makes it grow wings."

Said when someone insignificant acts in a way that will lead to his destruction because of an inflated sense of power.

idhā arāda Allāhu halāka an-namlati anbata lahā janāḥayn

What's the Brazilian proverb?

إيش في الضرطة من هلاك المنجل؟ يضرب في تباعد الكلام من جنسه، وأصله أن امرأة ضرّطت عند زوجها، فلامها زوجها، فقالت: وأنت ضيّعت منجلا، فقالت: إيش في الضرطة من هلاك المنجل؟

A non-Arab (muwallad) proverb:

"What's a fart compared with losing the scythe?"

ēsh fi ḍ-ḍarṭa min halāk al-minjal

A husband once rebuked his wife for farting around him and she replied, "well you lost the scythe!" (which is worse). Then she coined this proverb.

كَأَنَّمَا الأَرْضُ شَاعَ فِيهَا * مِنْ طِيبِ أَزْهَارِهَا بَخُورُ أَثْنَتْ عَلَى رَبِّهَا السَّوَارِي * وَالنَّبْتُ وَالمَاءُ وَالصُّخُورُ وَنَحْنُ فَوْقَ التُّرَابِ ثِقْلٌ * يَكَادُ مِنْ تَحْتِنَا يَخُورُ

—Springtime—
💐

Like a censer of incense
earth's filled with flowers' fragrance.

The plants, rocks, water, and clouds
all sing to their Lord in praise.

And we're dead weight on the land —
beneath us it almost gives way.

— al-Maʿarrī (Syria, d. 1057)

إن كُنتَ كذوباً فكُن ذَكوراً يُضرَب للرجل يكذب ثم ينسى فيُحدِّث بخلاف ذلك.

No. 366

"If you're going to lie then have a good memory."

in kunta kadhūban fa-kun dhakūran

​٢٨٥ — إِذَا ظَلَمْتَ مَنْ دُونَكَ فَلَا تَأْمَنْ عَذَابَ مَنْ فَوْقَكَ

No. 285

​Arabic proverb of the day:

"If you oppress those below you, don't feel secure from the punishment of Him who is above you."

idhā ẓalamta man dūnaka fa-lā taʾman ʿadhāba man fawqaka

نَقِّل فُؤادَكَ حَيثُ شِئتَ مِنَ الهَوىما الحُبُّ إِلّا لِلحَبيبِ الأَوَّلِكَم مَنزِلٍ في الأَرضِ يَألَفُهُ الفَتىوَحَنينُهُ أَبَداً لِأَوَّلِ مَنزِلِ

Chase after love all you like,
you love your first
beloved forever.

We pass on this earth
through so many places —
it's always the first home
we long for.

— Abū Tammām (d. 845)

٥٩ - أنت كالمُصطادِ باسْتِه. هذا مَثَلٌ يُضرَب لمن يَطْلُب أمراً فيناله من قُرب.

No. 59

"It's like you're hunting with your ass."

anta ka-l-muṣṭādi bi-stih

Said when someone searching for something finds it [unexpectedly] close (sc. who finds it by sitting on it).

يُضرَبُ في التَّحذيرِ لِلمُعْجَبِ بنفسِهِ

Alt text:

٥٨ – إِيَّاكَ وَأَهْلَبَ العَضَرُطِ
الأَهْلَبُ: الكَثيرُ الشَّعرِ. وَالعَضَرُطُ:
ما بينَ السَّهِ والمَذاكيرِ، ويُقالُ له العِجانُ،
وأصلُ المَثَلِ أنَّ امرأةً قالَ لها ابنُها: ما أَجِدُ
أَحداً إلا قهرتُهُ وغلبتهُ، فقالتْ: يا بُنَيَّ إيَّاكَ
وأَهْلَبَ العَضَرُطِ. قالَ: فصرَعَهُ رجلٌ مرَّةً،
فرأى في أَستِهِ شَعْراً، فقالَ: هذا الذي كانتْ
أُمي تُحذِّرُني منه.

He thought so this is what my mother warned me about.

A woman's son once told her that he hadn't met anyone he couldn't beat [in a fight]. The mother quoted this proverb to him.

Then one day in a fight he was knocked down. I guess, lying on the ground and looking up the guy's robe or whatever, he saw the man had a hairy perineum.

No. 57

"Beware the man with a hairy perineum."

iyyāka wa-ahlaba l-ʿaḍraṭ

This means don't be overconfident.

There's a story that goes with it:

قال ابن نُباتة السعدي في الدنيا ولذّاتها: ودارٍ يُغَرُّ بها أهلُها ... غرورَ المُحِبِّ بطيفِ الحُلُمْ تأمُّلُها يَقْظَةٌ من كَرًى ... ولذَّتُها راحةٌ من أَلَمْ عَناءُ الحياةِ ورَوْحُ الوفاةِ ... تقاربَ وُجدانُها والعَدَمْ

—On this world—

It deceives those who live there
like a dream deceives a lover.

Its pleasure does ease pain—
and contemplating it wakes you from slumber.

Life's suffering and rest in death: its
existence and nothingness dwell close together.

—Ibn Nubātah al-Saʿdī (Iraq, d. 1010)

٥٠ – أنفٌ في السَّماءِ واسْتٌ في الماء. يُضرَبُ للمُتكبِّرِ الصَّغيرِ الشَّأن.

No. 50

"Nose in the sky, ass in the water."

It rhymes in Arabic:

anfun fi s-samāʾ wa-stun fi l-māʾ

Said of an insignificant person who behaves arrogantly.

Qui tacet consentit also exists in modern Italian as "chi tace acconsente"

​١٠٩٢ - اَلْحَرْبُ غَشُومٌ لِأَنَّهَا تَنَالُ مَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ فِيهَا جِنَايَةٌ ، وَرُبَّمَا سَلِمَ الْجَانِي

No. 1092

"War is a tyrant"

al-ḥarb ghashūm

According to al-Maydānī this is said because "war takes those who have done nothing wrong, while the true wrongdoer passes through it safely."

قُلْ للّذي بصروفِ الدهرِ عيّرنا : هل حاربَ الدهرُ إلاّ مَنْ له خَطَرُ؟ أما ترى البحرَ تعلو فوقه جيفٌ ، ويستقرّ بأقصى قَعْرِهِ الدُّررُ ؟ فإنْ تَكُنْ نَشِبَتْ أيدي الزمان بنا ونالنا من تَمادي بؤسهِ الضرر ، ففي السماء نجومٌ ما لها عددٌ ؛ وليس يُكسَفُ إلاّ الشمسُ والقمرُ !

They revel in my misfortune—
tell them misfortune picks
on people who actually matter:

corpses float on the waves
but in the ocean depths lie pearls.

If time's clenched me in
her painful fingers—

well, the stars in the sky are countless.
Only the sun and moon get eclipsed.

— Qabus ibn Wushmagir

I’d been thinking about the ending of Aeschylus’ Eumenides all morning and then this afternoon I found the following proverb in Freytag. Coincidence? Maybe — but somehow I doubt it:

‏"إن كُنتَ لستَ معي فالذِّكرُ منك معي ‏قلبي يراك وإن غُيِّبْتَ عن بصري" ‏الغازي: 5441 نقلاً عن اخي/ ضياء الدين جعرير

A line of love 💓 poetry from a manuscript margin:

Though you are not with me
your memory abides—
my heart still sees you
though you're absent from sight.

The wa- in wa-ʾanā ʾaʿlamu mā fīhi is ḥāl, an adverbial construction, meaning the verb that follows describes the state of the subject while eating.

٤٧- إنِّى لآكُلُ الرَّأْسَ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ مَافِيهِ يُضرب للأمر تأتيه وأنت تعلم ما فيه مما تكره.

No. 47

"I'm eating the head, knowing what's within it."

Said when doing something you know you'll hate.

Ain’t that the truth.

مَنِ استنامَ إلى الأشرارِ نامَ وفي قميصهِ مِنهُمُ صِلٌّ وثُعبانُ

"Whoever closes his eyes to evil men
sleeps with adders and vipers within his shirt."

— Abū l-Fatḥ al-Bustī (Afghanistan, d. 1010)