If someone passes by without greeting you, you can say: "He went past us like a duck passing a sailor." 🦆 yamurru ʿalaynā kamā yamurru al-baṭṭu ʿalā al-mallāḥ

"They can't find a place to climb to in heaven or a place to sit on earth." huwa lā yajidu fī s-samāʾi maṣʿadan, wa-lā fī l-arḍi maqʿadan Said when someone is being indecisive.

"So-and-so chokes you with butter." Fulānun yakhnuqu bi-z-zubd Said of someone who can attain what they want with blandishments and fine talk.

Wise words, that is, if that thing has already passed you by. If you’re worried that you missed your chance to register for a language class — you’re in luck — we’ve extended the deadline to Friday, July 24th! Sign up @ link in pinned post/bio!

"So-and-so is the fartiest person in an empty house." fulānun aḍraṭu n-nāsi fī dārin fārighah Said when someone ostentatiously busies themselves with something completely futile.

When someone treats you harshly and degradingly: "So-and-so is using flies' wings to give me a drink of water" or "giving me water by the drop " fulānun yasqīnī l-māʾa bi-ajniḥati dh-dhubāb wa-yasqīnī l-māʾa bi-l-qaṭr

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Emirati Arabic proverb of the day شنيوب غرق يمل šanyūb ġarrag yɨmal. "A ghost crab drowned a camel." It's meant to evoke the idea of someone small but clever influencing or overcoming someone important.

Markˣ@shjsat.bsky.social · 3mo ago

TIL that Emirati Arabic šanyūb (< šangūb!) refers specifically to the "ghost crab" which has a prominent feature called "stalked eyes". In Qatar, they have another name; in Oman, šanyūb/šangūb = crab. I guess the most common example locally must be the smooth-handed ghost crab (Ocypode cordimana).

When someone is adored so much that even his vices are praised: "For them it's as if when he farted he praised God." fulānun idhā ḍaraṭa fa-ʿindahum annahu qad sabbaḥa

"I'll do such-and-such a thing as much as a dick pisses." wa-llāhi la-afʿalanna kadhā ʿadada kulli ayrin bāla

"Boils come with a fever." Said when facing one tribulation after another. ~When it rains it pours maʿa l-ḥummā dummаl

People around here would say: “He can’t tell his ass from his elbow.” What do they say in your neck of the woods?

The best advice is always the hardest to hear. Oof.

If your speech, oh my soul, is silver, then silence surely is gold.

—When Luck's sitting down— 🎲 She said run and seek wealth; when luck's sitting down how can you stand? It's true the good times don't last but neither, then again, do the bad. — Sibṭ ibn al-Taʿāwīdhī (Iraq, d. 1187)

Burckhardt has something similar in his Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians

It is recited of the thing that passes away before its time: This is what they mean when they say: "the best of what was has vanished."

It is recited of the distressed asking aid of the distressed 🕊️ I'm as afflicted as you are, mourning dove, so ask whoever breaks your bondage to break mine

It's recited regarding placating temporal authorities 🐒 Bow to the evil monkey of the day! Tell him what he wants as long as he's in power

I taught him archery; when his arm grew strong he shot me. I taught him poetry, and when he could rhyme he wrote insulting ones against me.

—On a son growing up— 🪞 My son's grown up in my image, he wears now what I've left behind. It's a joy to see his face — though it's not a joy to see mine. —Ibn Abī Fanan (Iraq, d. ca. 890 CE)

🫏 I loved a donkey-driver; he drove away sleep from my eye! He's like a full moon: untiring as he drives through the night. al-Sunbulī (Syria, d. 1294)

"Three kinds of people lose their minds even when they're sane: someone angry, someone jealous, and someone drunk." Thalāthatun majānīnu wa-in kānū ʿuqalāʾ: al-ghaḍbānu, wa-l-ghayrānu, wa-s-sakrān.

(Syriac) ܗܘܝܘ ܡܢܬ ܚܪܝܐ ܥܠ ܐܘܪܩܥܬܐ /huyu mnåṯ ḥaryå ʕal ʔurqaʕtå/

Arabic Proverbs@arabicproverbs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

"He's a piece of shit on a rag" huwa qiṭʿat kharā ʿalā khirqa

"He's a piece of shit on a rag" huwa qiṭʿat kharā ʿalā khirqa

"More detestable than school to a boy." abghaḍu min al-kuttābi ilā ṣ-ṣabīy

Persian equivalent: az to harakat, az khoda barakat (از تو حرکت، از خدا برکت) "movement from you, blessing from God" = you need to take action, and God will help/reward you for doing so

There's a proverb, ḥaraka baraka (الحركة بركة), which is basically the opposite of this: "Movement is a blessing."

Adam Bremer-McCollum@acbm.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Arabic word of the day حركة /ḥarakah/ "movement" (also "vowel") as in EvagKG 1.51 (ed. Davis) الحركة هي علّة الشرّ وقاطع الشرّ هي الفضيلة "movement is the cause of evil, and virtue is what severs evil"

No one is stingier than Fate, but I asked for four things anyway: having sex but staying hard, drinking wine but staying sharp, spending money but staying rich, and getting old with my hair still dark. — Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Khwārazmī (d. 993)