North African proverbs and sayings from communities in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan … Feel free to suggest or submit more via the forum, which will then be added to the list.
- When you see a rat running into a fire then you know that what it is running away from is hotter than the fire.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - When an elder dies a whole library is buried with him.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - Do not use a fox to watch chickens because it has a lot of experience in ending their lives.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - Ask for a camel when you expect to get a goat.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Sudan - If you want to catch a black goat, do it before sunset.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - Not all trees in a forest make good firewood.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Tunisia - If you cannot cook, do not tell someone the food needs salt.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - An animal with soft hooves cannot force its way through a thorny bush.
Community/language of origin: Juba
Country: South Sudan - It is better to be a free dog than a caged lion.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan/Ethiopia - There may be a father without a son but there may never be a son without a father.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Sudan - Do not destroy the pumpkin plant in your old homestead, because it may one time save you when you are hungry.
Community/language of origin: Juba
Country: South Sudan - It is only a person who has been pierced by a thorn who knows how it hurts.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - Two hands united can throw anything a long way.
Community/language of origin: Arabic
Country: Sudan - Bees that have honey in their mouths have stings in their tails.
Community/language of origin: Juba
Country: South Sudan - The art of being a good guest is to know when to leave.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - A wise man learns from the mistakes of others, a fool learns only from his own.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor does a learned fool have the taste of wisdom.
Community/language of origin: Yambio
Country: South Sudan - A tree that shields a lizard is asking to be stoned.
Community/language of origin: Dinka
Country: South Sudan - The squatting of a frog is in fact its way of standing.
Community/language of origin: Kapweta
Country: Sudan - If you are patient enough, good things will happen.
Community/language of origin: Arabic
Country: Egypt - Listen to the first and last word to understand the meaning.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: South Sudan - The wise man does not cut the tree branch while sitting on it.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Sudan - The hand that is not working is not a pure (good) hand.
Community/language of origin: Arabic
Country: Egypt - A beautiful thing is never perfect.
Community/language of origin: Arabic
Country: Egypt
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