Maahmaah Soomaali

Discover the wisdom of East Africa through traditional Somali proverbs

🌟 Proverb of the Day

Guur aan dulqaad lahayn, waa guri aan saqaf lahayn
A marriage without patience is a house without a roof
Endurance shelters love — tolerance keeps peace

Meaning: Children's noise is their happiness

Context: Noise shows life — vitality comes with chaos

Meaning: Blame sits on the cheek

Context: Shame is visible — wrong deeds reveal themselves

Meaning: Youthful excitement leads to regret later

Context: Impulsiveness brings consequences — think ahead

Meaning: A full child is amused by fingers

Context: The satisfied forget hardship — comfort breeds play

Meaning: Clothes longer than you won't protect from cold

Context: What doesn't fit you won't benefit you — choose according to need

Meaning: A heron's inheritance belongs to the vulture

Context: The cunning profit from the lazy — only the active gain reward

Meaning: A drizzle that failed to become rain

Context: A promise unfulfilled — effort without completion

Meaning: Tall one, shorten for me; thin one, you can't cut it

Context: Every strength has a weakness — balance brings success

Meaning: When an ear is cut, the hole remains

Context: Wounds heal but leave marks — forgiveness doesn't erase memory

Meaning: An ear that hears evil doesn't spread good

Context: Gossip destroys virtue — avoid harmful talk

Meaning: The boiling pot is hot for a reason

Context: Every effect has a cause — nothing happens without reason

Meaning: A shared burden isn't a burden

Context: Problems feel lighter when shared — solidarity eases pain

Meaning: The dying one perishes before the knife arrives

Context: Fate strikes before action — death can't be delayed

Meaning: The grave-digger falls into decay himself

Context: Evil deeds destroy their doer — wrongdoing backfires

Meaning: The blood of a woman can't be hidden

Context: Truth and guilt eventually surface — secrets don't last

Meaning: An empty pot and a full pot aren't struck together

Context: Unequal things shouldn't be compared — fairness matters

Meaning: When the prostitute was advised, she said, "Hurry up, men are waiting for me."

Context: The corrupt ignore advice — those lost in sin reject correction

Meaning: Before you call her a harlot, she calls you one

Context: The guilty often accuse others first — hypocrisy speaks loudest

Meaning: The prostitute who miscarried is already at peace

Context: Once suffering strikes, fear fades — hardship builds resilience

Meaning: Trade (or travel) has diminished you

Context: Wandering or greed can make one lose more than they gain