An (uncommon) English equivalent is “The tongue ever turns to the aching tooth.” أقول له تور يقول إحلبه Literal translation: Whoever has a head-wound keeps feeling it.Įxplanation: A guilty person will give himself away. Literal translation: The world is like a belly-dancer: it dances a little while for everyone.Įnglish equivalent: Every dog has its day. don’t try to arrange a marriage because you will get blamed if it doesn’t work out. Literal translation: Walk in a funeral procession, not in a marriage.Įxplanation: Don’t play match-maker, i.e. Literal translation: Whoever gets burned by soup, blows on yogurt.Įnglish equivalent: Once bitten, twice shy. Literal translation:When brains were passed out, everyone was pleased with his brains but when fortunes were given out, no one was satisfied with his fortune.Įxplanation:People may be dissatisfied with their lot in life but nevertheless still believe that their way of thinking is the best. Literal translation: The one whose hand is in fire is not like the one whose hand is in water.Įnglish equivalent: Easier said than done. Literal translation: The end result of a good deed is a slap with the palms.Įnglish equivalent: No good deed goes unpunished.
Literal translation: I curse my own child but I hate whoever says “amen.”Įxplanation: This proverb describes the feeling that I have the right to criticize someone close to me, but I will rush to that person’s defense if an outsider makes the same criticism. Literal translation: The monkey is a gazelle in the eyes of his mother.Įnglish equivalent: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, it should be noted that many of these proverbs exist in similar variants across the Arab world, each adapted to the pronunciation and vocabulary of the local dialect. If there is no corresponding proverb in English, the literal translation is followed by an explanation of the idea expressed by the saying. For each proverb, we provide a literal translation of the Arabic, along with the equivalent proverb in English (if one exists). Here are some of our favorite Arabic proverbs.