Maahmaah Soomaali
Discover the wisdom of East Africa through traditional Somali proverbs
🌟 Proverb of the Day
Meaning: Your eyes are your peers, but your ears are older than you
Context: Seeing gives facts, but listening gives wisdom — elders teach more
Meaning: Your eye is your teacher
Context: Experience teaches best — observation brings knowledge
Meaning: A door isn't closed by words but by a bar
Context: Action secures what speech cannot — deeds over words
Meaning: Where running exists, falling does too
Context: Risk accompanies effort — progress comes with failure
Meaning: When one endures the dry season, the body doesn't need endurance
Context: If you survive the hardest time, smaller challenges are easy
Meaning: While a car is being sought, the poor woman's son becomes a soldier
Context: The poor act while the rich plan — necessity drives quick decisions
Meaning: Think before you act
Context: Wisdom comes from foresight — reflection prevents regret
Meaning: Live hands never tire, and as people, we never give up on you
Context: Human compassion endures — loyalty doesn't fade easily
Meaning: Loving eyes can't look straight at each other
Context: Deep affection brings shyness — love humbles the heart
Meaning: A daughter whose mother grinds grain learns to sift it
Context: Children learn by imitation — parents' habits shape their offspring
Meaning: When a woman enters, the cow doesn't rise
Context: Certain presences calm the scene — gentleness disarms tension
Meaning: A fool makes no smoke but keeps flapping her sleeves
Context: The foolish make noise without effect — empty effort achieves nothing
Meaning: What joins the hard-uddered camel and harsh words?
Context: Both are tough to handle — some things require gentleness
Meaning: The camels' song has order
Context: Everything has rhythm — order creates harmony
Meaning: The diamond isn't a ram
Context: Things of different nature can't be compared — value by kind
Meaning: You can reach neither the wind nor the western shadow
Context: Some goals are impossible — accept limits
Meaning: Work clears the path
Context: Action brings clarity — doing reveals the way
Meaning: Is the cow chasing the calf, or is she pushing it away?
Context: Actions may look the same but mean differently — judge intent carefully
Meaning: Foam isn't food
Context: Appearances deceive — substance matters
Meaning: A cow that rejects its hide looks through its holes
Context: You can't reject your nature — self-denial is futile