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يل ق I was toldاهاغب فك اهال ام دحو ىتح “Nobody has ever lived the way he wished”
By:
M. Abdessalami
It is quite interesting that most proverbs play the role of the helm of life. As a livingoral collective memory of old experience, proverbs work like a gear which must lead peoplein the right path towards noble objectives. In order to correct misbehavior or to remind othersof how well-mannered deeds look like, people quote proverbs instead of being too long inexplaining or commenting on an event, a conduct or an act. Here we can borrow the Chinese proverb:"One proverb is worth ten thousand words". Some of these proverbs bear years of trying endeavor and experience. Therefore we should be thankful to the old generations whotransmit their experiences in short concise expressions to teach us the skill of living, goodmanners and conduct to set up a harmonious society.All nations have got their own repertoire of proverbs but they eventually dovetail witheach other because those proverbs are the outcome of human experience which is normallythe same everywhere and every when. No doubt proverbs are one of the springs from whichthe human expertise emerges albeit other sources aliment it like religion, wise sayings andscientific facts; and this is another story."Never put yourself completely between the hands of your friends for one day theymay turn against you" is a wise proverb that can be universal because people everywhere inthe world share the quality of being "suspicious". Moreover many people can be disloyal totheir friends. Because of some personal gain or interest, they easily betray one another.Younger people repeat their ancestors' words in the form of very brief rich utterancesthat rarely change in form and content with time; unless some transformation occurs in thesociety or new factors interfere and make the proverb hard to understand or explain. Theykeep repeating them so as not to commit the same mistakes the older generations made. So theidea that those who repeat proverbs all the time are unable to express themselves is not quitesustained as an argument. These proverbs are the gist of life itself. From the stupid mistakeswe make throughout our experiences with life we can forge new proverbs as the outcome of those experiences. Our grandchildren, then, will repeat them so as to anticipate andsubsequently do not repeat the same errors to progress safely. It is true that the proverbs don’tcreate a successful society but they pave the way to make the successful social normsreachable.We can substantiate that only proverbs need not be translated because they have their matches in the other cultures.* "Tous les chemins mène à Rome"
French
* "All roads lead to Rome"
English
*
"ةم ىل ؤ اعشل ك" Arab
Abdessalami On_Line
1
These are surely adaptations of the same proverb. Nevertheless, there are others whichare different in text and diction but they have the same context and meaning. These areexamples of the same proverb in two different old nations' cultures notably Britain andMorocco:* British say: "Grasp all, lose all"* Moroccans say:
"اك اخ اك اهاغب يل"
Many other examples are available in almost all cultures. There is always anequivalent to any proverb you have in mind in another culture. It is human, isn't it?* The French say: "Tel père, tel fils"* The Arabs say:
"دس ذ نم شل ه"
* The British say: "Like father, like son"These are the same although they stem from completely different environments. Theremay be some interaction but the fact that one of the cultures adopts a proverb from another culture, means that people on this planet are of the same nature, otherwise proverbs will beuseless where other norms and civilizations are established. I mean that despite the diversityof civilizations and modes of life, the human nature remains the same. Take these examples of different proverbs from different civilizations and see if they aren't universal:* Latin: "Art has no enemy except ignorance"* French: "Autres temps, autres mœurs" (Other times, other manners)* Italian: "Be sure before you marry of a house wherein to tarry"* Arab: "The world is with those who are standing" Now let's have a look at proverbs from different ages:* 14th Century: "All is well that ends well"* 15th Century: "As bold as a coat"* 16th Century: "Bad excuse is better than none"* 17th Century: "Anything in a quiet life"* 18th Century: "Ask no questions and you will be told no lies"* 19th Century: "Accidents will happen in the best regulated families"* 20th Century: "Actions speak louder than words"You can quote as many as you like, but the human experience is not restricted. As aresult, the most important part of our lives nowadays is made up of recorded proverbs. I usethese as examples to show that we, human beings, share the essence of the experience in lifeno matter how different our backgrounds are. Another fact worth mentioning is that a proverbcould be used in a culture while its origin is in another. Sometimes we use this expression, "asthe French proverb goes …" (or so) to make allusion that the proverb is not local but it worksthough. Very often we don't bother mention the source on the basis that all proverbs are anmankind heritage no matter what nationality they are. Consequently, I believe the use of proverbs in their international spirit smashes the boundaries that may have been installedthrough the times of foolishness humanity had undergone all over recorded history.
Abdessalami On_Line
2
Here is a list of local Moroccan proverbs that I tried to translate into English. If theyare understood as the original version, surely they will have corresponding ones in your culture, or else they will, at least, be accepted because they are the product of humanexperiences in its universal sphere. I wish I succeeded to transmit my idea which, I assume, isso common that it may reflect what you already know.
Enjoy these Moroccan proverbs.
* The determined ostrich hunter will surely meet one* He who has been bitten by a snake is afraid of a rope.* We hope we aren't forced to choose among hurting things.* Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of his mother.* The liar cheats the greedy.* If you play with a dog, it will lick your lips.* He who chooses to be a grain, the hen will eat it.* He who wants honey should bear bees' stings.* He who follows the right path, thorns will not hurt him.* He who bites you and you don't bite him in return, you aretoothless.* One is carrying it; the other is suffering from its heaviness.* The camel doesn't see his heap; he rather sees that of hisfriend.* It is shameful if the camel climbs up the roof, but the coq isused to that.* The chicken in agony, her eyes on food.* The hen washed its legs and forgot its dirty past.* No lamb has ever been born with its wool on.* Lies have got no legs.
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For more Moroccan proverbs with translation and transcription visit
To surf more than 500 proverb(e)s in English and French visit:
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