Probably this English proverb rings more than just one bell. Well, the Arabs have their own unique way of saying the same thing.
Literal translation: Time is gold.
You are the apple of my eye.
Every child is the apple of their parents’ eyes. Of course, there are variations to this saying in English, as there are in Arabic. However, to avoid losing ourselves in the mysteries of Arabic language grammar, we will stick to the second person singular. So, the Arabic saying goes like this:
Literal translation: You are the light of my eyes.
He who digs a pit…
If you’ve read the Bible at least once, you must have stumbled upon The Book of Proverbs and the famous Proverb 26:27, which warns that “He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that rolleth a stone, it shall return to him”. The modern English version is less tongue-twisting, “He that digs a pit will fall into it, and he that rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.”
The Arabic version is comparatively simpler:
Literal translation: He who digs a pit for his brother falls into it.
True in English and Arabic. After all, hard work pays off no matter where you are. It’s a matter of when and how you express the idea. In Arabic, it goes like this:
Literal translation: He who desires the top must sit up many nights
A hungry belly has no ears.
Nothing works when you’re hungry. You’re fidgety, and you can’t focus. When that happens, you can say:
Literal translation:The mind is lost when it comes to the stomach.
So, don’t make any important decisions on an empty stomach.
Man does not attain all his heart’s desires.
Whatever language you speak, the above is true. Think of yourself, do you always get what you want? Sometimes, it’s all a “love’s labour’s lost”. Well, from the realm of Shakespeare, we navigate again to the desert of Arabia, where people express this idea as follows:
Literal translation: One will not attain everything he wishes. Or, an equally good and enlightening translation would be “The winds blow unlike what the ships wish
for.”
Kill two birds with one stone.
Whenever you wish to achieve two things in one go, you say that. The idea of killing is believed to originate from Greek mythology, specifically the story of Daedalus and Icarus, who escaped the Cretan labyrinth by flying. Legend has it that they killed two birds with one stone and stripped them of their feathers to make themselves wings.
Whether Arabic speakers believe the same or not, we cannot know for sure. What we do know is that they have the same concept of efficiency as English speakers since
their version of this wise saying is:
Literal translation: I hit two birds with a single stone.
We all know the pasture on the other side of the pond is greener- to throw another English saying into the mix. This is how coveting starts. Only the pasture may not
be as forbidden as the fruit… The same idea is wisely expressed by the Arabic proverb below:
Literal translation: Whatever is forbidden is desired.
Good brevity makes sense.
“Short and sweet”, or “Less is more”, as Westerners also say. Conciseness is key to getting your message across as clearly and quickly as possible.
Literal translation: The best speech is little and indicative.
A man of knowledge restrains his words.
When you know more than the others should know that you do, you’d better keep your golden silence.
Literal translation: If speech is silver, then silence is gold.
