Maahmaah Soomaali

Discover the wisdom of East Africa through traditional Somali proverbs

🌟 Proverb of the Day

Dhal aan dheela baran, dhuusaan buu barta
A child who hasn't learned to play learns to fart
If one doesn't learn good habits, they pick up bad ones

Meaning: Marriage and victory live in separate houses

Context: Success in one area doesn't guarantee peace in another

Meaning: An old man's marriage is like a girl without parents

Context: Both lack natural balance — mismatched unions bring challenge

Meaning: Marriage without a home is mere talk

Context: Commitment requires preparation — stability supports love

Meaning: Marriage is known by its bedding, conduct, and fairness

Context: The health of a union shows in intimacy, behavior, and justice

Meaning: Marriage is a knot and a corner

Context: It binds people and builds a household — it anchors life

Meaning: Crooked elders are worse than bad marriage

Context: Leadership gone wrong harms society deeper than family conflict

Meaning: Success follows the one who strives

Context: Hard work attracts achievement — effort breeds victory

Meaning: Success comes with pain

Context: Sacrifice precedes reward — endurance brings triumph

Meaning: Success doesn't come to the idle lying on mats

Context: Laziness kills opportunity — act to achieve

Meaning: Victory isn't born; it's created

Context: Effort makes success — nothing happens by chance

Meaning: The hopeless never achieve victory

Context: Perseverance fuels triumph — never give up

Meaning: Success and bravery are inseparable

Context: Courage leads to success — fear blocks reward

Meaning: Burning is burning, whether a tree or a house

Context: Pain is pain — suffering feels the same regardless of form

Meaning: When a tree burns, no leaf survives

Context: Destruction consumes all — shared harm spares none

Meaning: Only the burned and cooled knows the burn

Context: Experience teaches truth — pain gives wisdom

Meaning: Honesty never fails

Context: Truthfulness and integrity always bring reward in the end

Meaning: Delay ruins what could have been done early

Context: Act quickly when a matter needs urgency; hesitation brings loss

Meaning: Too many medicines cure nothing

Context: Doing too much at once spoils results; moderation works best

Meaning: You don't know a fire's heat unless it burns you

Context: Experience teaches more than hearsay

Meaning: Fire is quenched by words or by water

Context: Conflicts end either by reason or by force