# The best-known Arabic proverbs and their meaning

Arabic proverbs used across the Arab world, with what each one means. Chosen from the «Arabic proverbs» collection on Arabic Wikiquote.

- 0 votes · 12 items
- Jan 23, 2024 · فاطمة الزهراء العلوي
- https://even.best/en/l/1381/the-best-known-arabic-proverbs-and-their-meaning

## Top 12

1. **Patience is the key to relief** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Patience gets you through hard times.
2. **The dogs bark and the caravan moves on** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Ignore the critics and carry on.
3. **Time is like a sword: if you don't cut it, it cuts you** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Use your time or you'll lose it.
4. **The sword has outrun the blame** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — It's too late for regrets once it's done.
5. **Birds land with their own kind** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Birds of a feather flock together.
6. **In summer you wasted the milk** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Said to someone who threw away a chance and now wants it back.
7. **In his mother's eyes, the monkey is a gazelle** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Every mother thinks her child is the most beautiful.
8. **The believer is not stung from the same hole twice** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A wise person doesn't make the same mistake twice.
9. **Pleasing everyone is a goal that can't be reached** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — You can't please everybody.
10. **If you want to be obeyed, ask for what is possible** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Don't ask people for more than they can do.
11. **Nothing scratches your skin like your own nail** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — No one looks after your affairs like you do.
12. **The winds blow where the ships do not wish** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Things don't always go as we want. Originally half a verse by al-Mutanabbi.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.