Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom

مـــَـــعـــْــرفــــَـــة الــلــغــــَـــات مـــَـــدْخــــَـــل إلــِـى الـــَّـــحـــِــكـــْـــمــَـــة

 

 

In general, it can be said that `wisdom’ in notebooks vary from quotations from work of philosophers, writers, quotes from religious books, folk wisdom noted then or in former days into proverbs and expressions which circulate in a language.

Of course, the actual statements have arisen in a social, economic, cultural and/or religious context. Especially if they are of older origin and/or from a different culture, or if they are from a context other than your own trusted context, the distance conception can be very large. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century in Europe the quotations from works of Goethe and Schiller were commonplace/common practice, also one knew all kinds of Latin proverbs. The `Bildungsideaal’ then played a larger role than it does today. In the Netherlands, many proverbs and expressions have arisen by our large maritime role. Therefore knowledge of the context is necessary. Moreover, it must be considered that a `wisdom’ might be against an existing situation or practice, thus contains a criticism/critique. Think of a quote from the Bible “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Roughly said, to understand this statement you should at least have some knowledge of the Middle East because of that camel. Furthermore one must experience the iniquitous differences between rich and poor (in a hunter-gatherer society these differences will not be this large thus the statement will not appeal in such a way). Also one must have an idea which differences are acceptable and which not. Also, it is helpful that we know that the levying of taxes was leased. As a consequence, the government collected a fixed amount, but the tax accumulator could squeeze out the population as much as possible as lay in his capacity. Furthermore, especially a large role is played by the religious message that is that mental value should be one’s priority. Indeed, material orientation holds you back from these values.

• الأمـثـال اللـبـنـانـيّـة الـحـديـثـة

• ‘Egyptian proverbs’
• ‘Some Yemeni proverbs’
• ‘Modern Lebanese Proverbs’

 

• Actions speak louder than words.
• Work is the best talk.
• • ( الــْـمــَـالُ الــســَّـائــِـبُ يــُـعــَـلــِّـمُ الــســَّـرِقــَـةَ )

 

• A hungry man is an angry man.
• .( الــرَّجــُـلُ الــْـجــَـوْعــَـانُ رَجــُـلٌ غــَـضــْـبــَـانٌ )

 

• A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
• .( خــَـطــَـأٌ مــَـعــْـرُوفٌ أفــْـضــَـلُ مــِـنْ صــَـوَابٍ مــَـجــْـهــُـول )

 

• A rusty opinion can be polished by consultation.
• • ( مــَـا خـاب مـَـا اِســْــتـــَــشــار )

 

• A simple act of caring creates an endless ripple.
• • ( الـْـمــَـعــْـرَوف يـَـدُوم وإنْ صــَـغــُـر )

 

• Arabic is an ocean without a shore.
• • ( الـْـعــَـرَبـِـيـَّـةُ بـَـحــْـرٌ لا سـَـاحــِـلَ لـَـهُ )

 

• As you sow, so will you reap.
• • ( كــَـمــَـا تــَـزْرَع تــَـحــْـصــُـد )

 

• Be soft but not weak and be strong but not violent.
• • ( كــُـنْ رَحـِــيـــم ولا تــَـكــُـنْ ضــَـعـِــيــف وكــُـنْ قــَـوِيّ ولا تــَـكــُـنْ عـَــنـِــيــف )

 

• Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
• • ( الــنــظــافــة مـن الإيــمــان )

 

• • Don’t shoot an arrow that you cannot block.

Meaning: Don’t say or do something if you cannot deal with its consequences.

• • ( لا تــَـجــْـعــَـلْ ثــِـيــَـابــَـكَ أغــْـلــَـى شــَـيــْـئ فــِـيــكَ حــَـتــَّـى لا تــَـجــِـدُ نــَـفــْـســَـكَ يــَـوْمــًـا أرْخــَـصُ مــِـمــَّـا تــَـرْتــَـدِي )

 

• Don’t eat your bread at other people’s tables.
• • ( لا تــَـجــْـعــَـلْ ثــِـيــَـابــَـكَ أغــْـلــَـى شــَـيــْـئ فــِـيــكَ حــَـتــَّـى لا تــَـجــِـدُ نــَـفــْـســَـكَ يــَـوْمــًـا أرْخــَـصُ مــِـمــَّـا تــَـرْتــَـدِي ) (جــُـبــْـرَان خــَـلــِـيــل جــُـبــْـرَان)

 

• Don’t make your clothes the most expensive thing in your in order not to find yourself one day cheaper than what you wear. (Jubran Khalil Jubran)
• • ( لا تــَـجــْـعــَـلْ ثــِـيــَـابــَـكَ أغــْـلــَـى شــَـيــْـئ فــِـيــكَ حــَـتــَّـى لا تــَـجــِـدُ نــَـفــْـســَـكَ يــَـوْمــًـا أرْخــَـصُ مــِـمــَّـا تــَـرْتــَـدِي ) (جــُـبــْـرَان خــَـلــِـيــل جــُـبــْـرَان)

 

• Each occasion has its language.
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• Every person is an observance of the flaws of others and blind to his flaws.
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• Every soul will taste death.
• .( كـُـل نــَـفــْـسٍ ذَائـِـقــَـةُ الـْـمـَـوت )

 

• For every illness, there is medicine.
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• Good health is a crown on the heads of healthy people. (Anis Mansour, Egyptian writer)
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• Happiness: Good health and a bad memory. (Anis Mansour, Egyptian writer)
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• Health and peace are two hidden blessings. li>
• .( الــســَّـعــَـادَة: صــِـحــَّـة جــَـيــِّـدَة وذَاكــِـرَة ضــَـعــِـيــفــَـة)

 

• I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. (Wise man)
• .( لا أَعــْـرِفُ مــَا هــُـوَ ســِـرُّ الــنــَّـجــَـاح، لــَـكــِـنَّ ســِـرَّ الــَّـفــَـشــَـلِ هــُـوَ مــُـحــَـاوَلــَـة إرْضــَـاءُ الــْـجــَـمــِـيــع )

 

• In prosperity friends are many but in need, you will not find any. We always find friends surrounding us in times of prosperity but in adversity, it is most difficult to find any friend for all friends vanishes. ( E.: Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. )
• .( فــي الـْـو ِســْعَ مــَـا أكــْـثــَـرْهــُـم وَفــي الـــضــِّـيــق مــَـا تــَـلــْـقــَـى مــِـنــْـهــُـم )

 

• Knowledge gained in childhood is like engraved stone.
• .( الــْـكــَـذِبُ دَاء والــصــَّـدْقُ دَوَاء )

 

• Lighting a candle is better than cursing the darkness.
• .( الــْـكــَـذِبُ دَاء والــصــَّـدْقُ دَوَاء )

 

• Lying is the disease & truth is the cure.
• .( الــْـكــَـذِبُ دَاء والــصــَّـدْقُ دَوَاء )

 

• ‘Never have I debated with the Wise (a reasonable person) but to “outshine” him; and never has the Ignorant argued with me but for him to “outshine” me.’ Imaam Al-Shaaf’i
• .( الــْـكــَـذِبُ دَاء والــصــَّـدْقُ دَوَاء )

 

• Nothing can scratch your skin better than your nail.
• .( مـَــايـَــحـُــكُّ جــِـلــْـدَكَ إلا ظــُـفــْـرَكَ )

 

• Nothing stays the same.
• .( الــْـكــَـذِبُ دَاء والــصــَّـدْقُ دَوَاء )

 

• Oblivion is the scourge of science.
• .( دَوَام الـْـحـَـال مـِـنَ الـْـمــُـحــَـال )

 

• Science is what should be applied, not just memorized.
• .( الــْـعــِـلــْـمُ مــَـانــَـفــَـعَ وَلــَـيــْـسَ مــَـا حــُـفــِـظَ )

 

• Seeding freedom is no freedom to harvest.
• .( بـَــذر الــْــحــُـرِّيــَّـة لــَـيــْـسَ مــَـعـْــنــَـاه حــُـرِّيــَّـة الـْــحــَـصـَــاد )

 

• Silence is the greatest of all expressions when the talk is not useful.
• .( الــسـُّــكــُـوت أبـْــلــَــغُ تــَــعــْــبــِـر عـِــنــْـدَ مــَـا يـَــكــُـون الــْــكــَـلامُ لـَــيـْــسَ مـُـــفــِـيــد )

 

• Speech is silver, silence is gold.
• .( إذا كــَـانَ الــْـكــَـلامُ مــِـنْ فــَـضــَّـة فــَـالـســُّـكــُـوت مــِـنْ ذَهــَـب )
• .( اِنــْـطــَـق جــَـمــِـيــلًا. أوْ تــَـجــَـمــَّـل بــِـالــســِّـكــُـوت )

 

• Stretch your legs according to your coverlet. This is a bit of sound advice that one should always live within his income and in no way should spend more than he earns. One should try to adjust one’s expenditure according to his income. ( E.: Cut your coat according to your cloth. )
• .( مــِـدْ ر ِجـْــلــَـيــْـك عــَـلــى قــَـد ْ غــَـطــَـاك )

 

• The absentee has his justification. This is used to advise people not to reproach he who is absent for he may bring forth reasons for his absence. ( E.: The absent are always in the wrong. )
• .( الــْـغــَـائــِـبْ عــُـذ ْرُه مــَـعــَـاه)

 

• The friend who is not available in time of adversity the foe is much better than him. We always find friends surrounding us in times of prosperity but in adversity, it is most difficult to find any friend for all friends vanishes. (E.: Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. )
• • (الـصــَّـاحــِـب الــَّـذي مــَـا يــَـلــْـتــَـقــِـي فــِـي الــشــِّـد ِّة الــعــَـد ُو خــَـيــْـر مــِـنــْـه )

 

• The greatest mistake is to believe you are above making mistakes.
• • ( أكــْـبـر غــَـلـَـط هـُــو أن تــَـظــُـنّ أنــَّـك فــَـوْق فـِــعـْــل الــغــَـلـَــط )

 

• The absentee has his justification. This is used to advise people not to reproach he who is absent for he may bring forth reasons for his absence. ( E.: The absent are always in the wrong. )
• .( الــْـغــَـائــِـبْ عــُـذ ْرُه مــَـعــَـه )

 

• The key to achievement is willingness.
• • ( الـصــَّـاحــِـب الــَّـذي مــَـا يــَـلــْـتــَـقــِـي فــِـي الــشــِّـد ِّة الــعــَـد ُو خــَـيــْـر مــِـنــْـه )

 

• The shroud has no pockets. You can’t take it with you.
• • ( الــْـكــَـفــَـنُ مــَـالــَـهُ جــِـيــُـوب )

 

• The will of men can move mountains.
• • ( اِرَادَة الإنــْـسـَــان تــَـسـْــتــَـطـِــيــع أن تــُـحـَــرَّك جــِـبـَــال )

 

• Time is like a sword if you don’t cut it, it will cut you.
• • ( الــســَّـاعــِـي فــِـي الــْـخــَـيــْـرِ كــَـفــَـاعــِـلــِـهِ )

 

• Two birds with one stone.
• • ( عــصــفــوريــن بــحــجــر واحــد )

 

• Unattended money teaches thievery.
• If you don’t keep a close eye on your property, people will steal from you.
• • ( الــْـمــَـالُ الــســَّـائــِـبُ يــُـعــَـلــِّـمُ الــســَّـرِقــَـةَ )

 

• Wear a smile and have friends, wear a scowl and have wrinkles
• Souriez et vous aurez des amis, grinacez et vous aurez des rides
• • ( الإبــْـتــِـســَـامــَـةُ تــَـجــْـلــِـبُ الأصــْـدِقــَـاءَ، وَالــْـعــُـبــُـوسُ يــَـجــْـلــِـبُ الـتــَّـجــَـاعــِـيــدَ )

 

• When the mind matures the talk becomes less.
• • ( الــْـكــَـفــَـنُ مــَـالــَـهُ جــِـيــُـوب )

 

• Whoever asks, will not lose his way
• • ( مـَـنْ يـَـسـْـأل، لـَـنْ يـَـفـْـقـِـد طـَـريــقـَـة )
• • ( إلـَّـلـِـي يـِـسـْـأل مـَـايـْـتـُـوهـْـشـِـي )

 

• Whoever keeps his secret keeps his options open.
• • ( الــْـكــَـفــَـنُ مــَـالــَـهُ جــِـيــُـوب )

 

• Whoever relies on other people’s supplies will find his hunger lasts longer.
• • ( مـَـنْ يـَـسـْـأل، لـَـنْ يـَـفـْـقـِـد طـَـريــقـَـة )
• • ( إلـَّـلـِـي يـِـسـْـأل مـَـايـْـتـُـوهـْـشـِـي )

 

• You have to approach science, it won’t come to you.
• • ( الــْـعــِـلــْـمُ يــُـؤْتــَـى وَلاَ يــَـأْتــِـي )

 

• • ( لـَـو تــُـرِيــد أن تــَـرى نــِـجــْـمــَـة عـَـلـَـيــْـك أن تــَـنــْـظــُـر إلـَـى أعــْـلــى ولــَـكـِـنْ لــَـو تــُـرِيـد أن تــَـصــْـبــَـح نــِـجــْـمــًـا عــَـلــَـيــْـكَ أن تــَـذْهــَـب إلـِـى أعـْـلـى …….. مـِـنْ خـِـلال الإجـْـتـِـهـَـاد )

 
 
 

• • ( إنَّ صـَــمـْــتــًـا لـَــهُ مـَــعـْــنــَـى لـَــخــَـيـْــرٌ مـِــنْ كـَــلامٍ بــِـلا مـَــعـَــنــَـى )