Arabic proverbs

Proverbs from all Arabic speaking parts of the world.

Quotes
Any wise enemy is better than an ignorant friend.

Quoted in Carol Bardenstein, Translation and Transformation in

Modern Arabic Literature:The Indigenous Assertions of
Muḥammad 'Uthmān Jalāl (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=o
3uNjnpVSMYC&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q&f=false), Otto
Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005, p. 66.

The food of the lion (causes) indigestion to the wolf.

As quoted in Arabic Proverbs: Or, The Manners and Customs of

the Modern Egyptians by John Lewis Burckhardt and William
Ouseley (1830).
He who doesn't know the falcon
The remedy may be worse than the disease.
roasts it.
English equivalent: The remedy is often worse than the disease;
Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.
"Action taken to put something right is often more unpleasant or damaging than the original problem."
Martin H. Manser (2007). The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs (http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQ
c8NbTYC&pg=PA232). Infobase Publishing. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-8160-6673-5.
Atmaram Sadashiv, G. Jayakar (1900). Omani proverbs (Reimpresa ed.). Oleander Press. p. 69. ISBN
0906672120.
He with no ears gets the earrings !

Quoted in Bardenstein (2005), p. 66[specific citation needed]

When suitors came asking for her hand, she played hard-to-get, when they all left her, she regretted it.

Quoted in Bardenstein (2005), p. 66[specific citation needed]

‫ﺣﺒﻞ اﻟﻜﺬب ﻗﺼﻴﺮ‬

Translation: The rope of lying is short.

English equivalent: A lie has short legs.
"And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but
The truth in masquerade."
Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto XI, Stanza 37
Katibah, Habib Ibrahim (1940). The new spirit in Arab lands (http://books.google.com/books?id=ary6AAAAIA
AJ). Published privately by the author. p. 121.

‫ﻛﻞ ﺳﺎﻗﻂ ﻟﻪ ﻻﻗﻂ‬

Translation: Every faller has a catcher.

"Nowhere in the Quran does it say punish homosexuals. And historians have also never found any case of
the Prophet Muhammad dealing with homosexuality."
Daayiee Abdullah, as quoted in First Gay ‘Imam’ in USA Says ‘Quran Doesn’t Call for Punishment of
Homosexuals’ (http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/05/159043/first-gay-imam-in-usa-says-quran-doesnt
-call-for-punishment-of-homosexuals/) (22 May 2015), Morocco World News
‫ اﻻﻣﺜﺎل اﻟﺸﻌﺒﻴﺔ‬.(2011) ‫ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻲ‬،‫ دﻳﻦ‬,‫( ﺣﺴﻦ‬http://books.google.com/books?id=tYFMAQAAIAAJ). ‫دار اﻟﻤﺤﺠﺔ‬
‫اﻟﺒﻴﻀﺎء ﻟﻠﻄﺒﺎﻋﺔ واﻟﻨﺸﺮ واﻟﺘﻮزﻳﻊ‬،.
 ‫ﻻ ﻳﻔﻞ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺪ إﻻ اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺪ‬

Translation: Only iron strikes iron.

English equivalent: Fight fire with fire.
"Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the
people who were oppressing them."
Assata Shakur, Assata: In Her Own Words (1998)
al-Kitäb (http://books.google.com/books?id=lz0iAQAAIAAJ). 1946.

‫اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﻛﺎﻟﺴﻴﻒ إن ﻟﻢ ﺗﻘﻄﻌﻪ ﻗﻄﻌﻚ‬

Translation: Time is like a sword; if you don't cut it it'll cut you.
"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present"
Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (1985)
Manṣūr, ʻAbd al-Fattāḥ (1987). Mudhakkirāt kāìn maḥmūm (http://books.google.com/books?id=Hy4zAAAAIA
AJ).

Bedouin Proverbs
‫اﻟﻄﻮل ﻃﻮل ﻧﺨﻠﺔ واﻟﻌﻘﻞ ﻋﻘﻞ ﺳﺨﻠﺔ‬

Translation: [He has] The length of a palm tree but the brain of a goat.
‫ اﻟﺮﺟﻞ اﻟﺤﻴﻮان‬.(2008) ،‫ درﻳﻊ‬,‫( ﻓﻮزﻳﺔ‬http://books.google.com/books?id=Y7kyAQAAIAAJ). ‫ﻣﻨﺸﻮرات اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬،.

‫إﻟﻰ ﻛﺜﺮوا اﻟﺮﻋﻴﺎن ﺿﺎﻋﺖ اﻟﻐﻨﻢ‬

If the herders are a lot the sheep will get lost.

English equivalent: Too many cooks spoiled the broth.
"There may not be that natural connection and unity so essential to any production of merit."
Porter, William Henry (1845). Proverbs: Arranged in Alphabetical Order ... (http://books.google.com/books?id
=KA4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173). Munroe and Company. p. 173.

‫اﻟﻠﻲ ﻣﺎﻳﻌﺮف اﻟﺼﻘﺮ ﻳﺸﻮﻳﻪ‬

Translation: He who doesn't know the falcon roasts it

"No people on earth can be held, as a people, to be an enemy, for all humanity shares the common hunger
for peace and fellowship and justice."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors "The Chance for Peace" (http://
www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/ike_chance_for_peace.html) (16 April 1953)
Nawfal, Yūsuf Ḥasan (1981). ‫ ﺣﻴﺎﺗﻪ وأدﺑﻪ‬:‫( ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺤﻠﻴﻢ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻠﻪ‬http://books.google.com/books?id=bhEiAQA
AMAAJ). ‫ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ اﻟﺮﻳﺎض‬،‫ﻋﻤﺎدة ﺷﺆون اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺎت‬،.

‫ﻻ ﺗﻘﻮل ﺑﹹﺮ ﻟﻴـﻦ ﺗﻮﻛﻴــﻪ‬

Translation: Don't say its wheat until you harvest it

English equivalent: Sell not the bear's skin before you have caught him.
Meaning: "Do not plan too far ahead and do not be too optimistic. One cannot be sure of the success of a job
until it is completed. Unforeseen unfavourable developments can never be excluded."
Source for meaning of English equivalent: Paczolay, Gyula (1997). "X" (http://books.google.com/books?id=Ji
XzAAAAMAAJ). European proverbs: in 55 languages, with equivalents in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Chinese
and Japanese. Veszprémi Nyomda. p. 217. ISBN 1-875943-44-7.

Riches have disclosed in thy ccharacter the bad qualities fformerly hhidden by thy poverty.

"You get freedom by letting your eenemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get
it. It's the only way you'll get it."
Malcolm X, Advice to the Youth of Mississippi (1964)
Ouseley (1830). Arabic Proverbs: Or, The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=6tZYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA163). J. Murray. p. 163.
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