proverbs in persian

[f.rezai]

Proverbs in Persian:


''A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation.''
—Mieder 1985:119; also in Mieder 1993:24

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language.

(Part one)


• "آب از دستش نمی چکه."

o Literal Translation: Water does not trickle out of his hand.
o Connotation: He is a skinflint. She is tight-fisted.
o English Equivalent: Short arms, long pockets. First one out the taxi, last one to the bar.

• "آب از سر چشمه گل آلوده."

o Literal Translation: Water is muddy at the fountainhead.
o Connotation: The issue is muddled at the core.
o English Equivalent: It's rotten to the core.


• "آب از آب تکان نمی خوره."

o Literal translation: The water doesn't move.
o Connotation: Nothing is disturbed. No waves are made.
o English Equivalent: All quiet along the Potomac.


• "آب از سرش گذشته."

o Literal Translation: Water is past his head.
o Connotation: He has lost his chance; it's over for him.
o English Equivalent: She's in deep water. He's got in over his head.


• "آب پاکی روی دستش ریخت."

o Literal Translation: She poured cleansing water on his hand.
o Connotation: She told him the (bitter) truth.
o English Equivalent: She spilled the beans


• "آب در کوزه و ما تشنه لبان می گردیم."

o Literal Translation: Water is in the jug, yet we're wandering around with parched lips.
o Connotation: The solution is under our nose, yet we're searching far and wide for it.
o English Equivalent:We can't see the wood for the trees


• "آب را گل آلود می کنه که ماهی بگیره."

o Literal Translation: He makes the water muddy to fish.
o Connotation: He creates a confusing situation for opportunistic reasons.
o English Equivalent: He is fishing in troubled waters.


• "آب زیر پوستش افتاده."

o Literal Translation: Water has seeped under her skin.
o Connotation: She has become hale. Her appearance has improved.
o English Equivalent: She is in the pink.


• "آب که یه جا بمونه، می گنده."

o Literal Translation: When water remains in one place, it spoils.
o Connotation: Absence of change causes stagnation.


• "آبکش و نگاه کن که به کفگیر میگه تو سه سوراخ داری."

o Literal Translation: Look at the colander telling the pierced serving spoon, "You have three holes."
o Connotation: Applied when a person mentions the problems of another without seeing his own bigger problems.
o English Equivalent: The pot calling the kettle black.


• "آب که از سر گذشت، چه یک ذرع چه صد ذرع ـ چه یک نی چه صد نی."

o Literal Translation: Once water goes over your head, may it be one zar or hundred zars, may it be one nay or a hundred nays.
o Connotation: Once one is in deep trouble, the exact magnitude of one's misfortune becomes immaterial.
o English Equivalent: Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. In for a penny, in for a pound.


• "آب که سر بالا میره، قورباغه ابوعطا می خونه."

o Literal Translation: When water flows uphill, frogs sing Abu Ata.
o Connotation: An event is so improbable that its occurrence is akin to cacophony sounding mellifluous.
o English Equivalent: Once in a blue moon


• "آب نمی‌بینه و گرنه شناگر قابلیه."

o Literal Translation: He doesn't see any water; otherwise, he is a skilled swimmer.
o Connotation: He doesn't find the appropriate occasion to demonstrate his talents and abilities.
o English Equivalent: He talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk


• "آبی از او گرم نمیشه."

o Literal Translation: No water is heated by him.
o Connotation: He is not an agent of change. He is not a difference-maker. He provides no support or benefit.
o English Equivalent: He's a good-for-nothing.


• "آتش که گرفت، خشک و تر می سوزد."

o Literal Translation: Once fire spreads the damp and the dry burn.
o Connotation: Once a situation gets out of hand, the guilty and the innocent get harmed equally.
o English Equivalent: Fire is a good servant but a bad master.


• "آخر شاه منشی، کاه کشی است."

o Literal Translation: He who puts on lordly airs winds up hauling hay.
o Connotation: He who has had his nose in the air bites the dust in the end.
o English Equivalent: Pride comes before a fall


• "آدم تنبل، عقل چهل وزیر داره."

o Literal Translation: A sluggard claims the wisdom of forty viziers.
o Connotation: He talks the talk but doesnt walk the walk
o English Equivalent: Great talkers are little doers.


• "آدم خوش معامله، شریک مال مردمه."

o Literal Translation: An honest broker shares in people's wealth.

o English Equivalent: Share and share alike


• "آدم دست پاچه، کار را دوبار می‌کنه."

o Literal Translation: A hasty man does things twice.
o Connotation: A slapdash work requires rework.
o English Equivalent: Haste makes waste. Measure twice, cut once.

• "آدم زنده، زندگی می‌خواد."

o Literal Translation: A living person needs a life.
o Connotation: Human beings need meaningful lives.
o English Equivalent: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.


• "آدم زنده وکیل وصی نمی‌خواد."

o Literal Translation: A living man doesn't need an heir or an executor.

o English Equivalent: Eat drink and make merry, for tomorrow you might die


• "آدم گدا، این همه ادا؟"
•
o Literal Translation: So down-and-out, so high-and-mighty!

o English Equivalent: Lying in the gutter, looking at the stars


• "آدم ناشی، سرنا را از سر گشادش می زنه."

o Literal Translation: A bungler blows into Sorna's bell.
o Connotation: An incompetent person does not know how to go about doing a task (he blows into trumpet's bell instead of its mouthpiece).
o English Equivalent: He doesn't know which end is up.


• "آرد خودمونو ریختیم، الک مونو آویختیم."

o Literal Translation: We sifted our flour and hung up our sifter.
o Connotation: I took care of my own business.


• "آرزو بر جوانان عیب نیست."

o Literal Translation: Aspiration is not a defect for youngsters.
o Connotation: It's ok for youths to be dreamers.


• "آستین نو پلو بخور."

o Literal Translation: O New Sleeve, eat pilau!
o Connotation: People admire and value your trappings and outer personality instead of your inner self.
o English Equivalent: Don't judge a book by its cover


• "آسه برو آسه بیا که گربه شاخت نزنه."

o Literal Translation: Go slowly, come slowly, lest the cat should gore you.
o Connotation: Do your work quietly, so that you won't get in trouble. Keep a low profile.
o English Equivalent: Don't rock the boat. Don't make waves.


• "آشپز که دوتا شد، آش یا شوره یا بی‌نمک."

o Literal Translation: Between two cooks, the soup becomes either salty or bland.
o Connotation: More than one person is regressive for this job.
o English Equivalent: Too many cooks spoil the broth.


• "آش نخورده و دهن سوخته."

o Literal Translation: Uneaten soup and burned mouth.
o Connotation: Applied in situations where one gets in trouble for an action one hasn't committed.


• "آمدم ثواب کنم، کباب شدم."

o Literal Translation: I attempted to be benevolent, but I got burnt.
o Connotation: I was trying to help out, but I got in trouble myself.


• "آنانکه غنی‌ترند، محتاج‌ترند."

o Literal Translation: The richer they are, the needier they are.


• "آنچه دلم خواست نه آن شد --- آنچه خدا خواست همان شد."

o Literal Translation: What I wished for happened not -- What God willed happened to a dot.
English Equivalent: We are not in charge of our own destiny


• "آنرا که حساب پاکه، از محاسبه چه باکه؟"

o Literal Translation: He who is honest at finance, what fear of audit will he have?
o Connotation: One who's innocent is not afraid of investigation.
o English Equivalent: The honest don't need to lie


• "آنقدر بایست، تا علف زیر پات سبز بشه."

o Literal Translation: Stand so long until grass grows under your foot.
o Connotation: You can wait as much as you want, but it's useless.
o English Equivalent: You can stay here until the cows come home.


• "آنقدر مار خورده که افعی شده."

o Literal Translation: He has eaten so many snakes that he has become a viper.
o Connotation: He has dealt with so many scoundrels that he himself has become the chief rogue.


• "آنوقت که جیک‌جیک مستانت بود، یاد زمستانت نبود؟"

o Literal Translation: While you were chirping with vernal giddiness, didn't you think of brutal harshness?


o "آواز دهل شنیدن از دور خوشه."

o Literal Translation: Kettledrum sounds dulcet when heard from afar.
o Connotation: What you hear about something may not be equivalent to its qualities.
o English Equivalent: All that glisters is not gold


• "ارزان خری، انبان خری."

o Literal Translation: Buy cheap, buy a heap.
o English Equivalent: False economy


• "از اسب افتاده‌ایم، اما از اصل نیفتاده‌ایم."

o Literal Translation: We have fallen off the horse, but we have not fallen from nobility.
o Connotation: We might've had some misfortunes, but that doesn't lower our class or diminish our patriciate.



• "از اونجا مونده، از اینجا رونده."

o Literal Translation: Left out of there, driven from here.
o Connotation: Applied when one loses reputation in/is expelled from every group one belongs to.
o English Equivalent: Sent to Coventry / black balled


• "از اون نترس که های و هوی داره، از اون بترس که سر به زیر داره."

o Literal Translation: Don't be afraid of he who raises a hue and cry; be afraid of he who holds his head down.
o Connotation: The reticent can be more dangerous than the boisterous.
o English Equivalent: Empty vessels make the most noise. Barking dogs seldom bite.


• "از این دم بریده هر چی بگی بر‌میاد."


o Literal Translation: You name it, this imp has done it.
o Connotation: This prankster doesn't stop short of any tricks.
o English Equivalent: I wouldn't put it past him.


• "از این ستون به آن ستون فرجه."

o Literal Translation: From this column to that column may be a relief.
o Connotation: Trying every situation may bring a solution.
o English Equivalent: Try, try, try again


• "از بی‌کفنی زنده‌ایم."

o Literal Translation: We're alive for the lack of shroud.
o Connotation: Our means are exiguous. (We continue to live, because we couldn't afford the funeral cost, if we were to die.)


"از دست پس میزنه، با پا پیش می‌کشه."

o Literal Translation: He pushes it away with the hand, and pulls it back with the foot.
o Connotation: He pretends he doesn't want something, even though he reaches for it.


• "از تنگی چشم پیل معلومم شد --- آنانکه غنی‌ترند محتاج‌ترند."

o Literal Translation: The smallness of elephant's eye made me realize -- The ampler they are, the more meager they are.
English Equivalent: The rich are the least generous


• "از تو حرکت، از خدا برکت."

o Literal Translation: From you, action, from God, benediction.
o Connotation: You have to work towards something first instead of expecting luck.
o English Equivalent: God helps those who help themselves


• "از حق تا نا حق چهار انگشت فاصله است."

o Literal Translation: Just and unjust are four fingers apart.


• "از خرس موئی، غنیمته."

o Literal Translation: Even a hair off the bear is serendipitous.
o Connotation: It is so unlikely to obtain anything from this person that even a smidgen is a win.
o English Equivalent: Half a loaf is better than no bread.


• "از خودت گذشته، خدا عقلی به بچه‌هات بده."

o Literal Translation: You aside, may God give your children some intelligence.
o Connotation: You're dimwitted.
o English Equivalent: Dumbass


• "از درد لا‌علاجی به خر می گه خانم باجی."

o Literal Translation: Out of desperation, he calls donkey dame.
o Connotation: His options are so limited that he has to settle for the worst pinchbeck.
o English Equivalent: Hobson's choice


• "از دور دل و می بره، از جلو زهره رو."

o Literal Translation: At a distance, she takes the heart; up close, she takes the gall-bladder.
o English Equivalent: She's a Monet.


• "از کوزه همان برون تراود که در اوست."

o Literal Translation: What percolates out of the jug is what's inside it.

o English Equivalent: Every tree is known by its fruit.


• "از کیسه خلیفه می‌بخشه."

o Literal Translation: She doles out of Caliph's purse.
o Connotation: Someone is being generous at someone else's expense.


• "از گدا چه یک نان بگیرند و چه بدهند."

o Literal Translation: Be it a bread given to the beggar, be it one taken from him.
o Connotation: The person is so destitute that his fortune will not change with a penny given or taken.


• "از گیر دزد در آمده، گیر رمال افتاد."

o Literal Translation: He escaped the thief, and fell in fortune-teller's trap.
o English Equivalent: Out of the frying pan into the fire.
o


• "از ماست که بر ماست."

o Literal Translation: It's from us that's upon us.
o Connotation: We're responsible for our own misfortune.
o English Equivalent: Keep your own counsel/ watch your back


• "از مردی تا نامردی یک قدم است."

o Literal Translation: Doughtiness and cowardice are one step apart.
o English Equivalent: Cowards may die many times before their deaths.


• "از نخورده بگیر، بده به خورده."

o Literal Translation: Take it from the famished and give it to the nourished.
o English Equivalent: be a Robin Hood


• "از نو کیسه قرض مکن، قرض کردی خرج نکن."

o Literal Translation: Don't borrow from a parvenu; if you do, don't spend it.


• "از هول حلیم افتاد توی دیگ."

o Literal Translation: So raring for haleem, he fell into the pot.
o Connotation: Out of extreme desire for achieving something, he got in trouble.


• "از یک گل بهار نمی شه."

o Literal Translation: A single flower makes not Spring.
o
English Equivalent: A single swallow does not make a Summer


• "از این گوش میگیره، از آن گوش در می کنه."

o Literal Translation: She takes in from one ear, and lets out from the other ear.
o Connotation: One doesn't pay attention to the given advice.
o English Equivalent: Goes in one ear comes out the other.


• "اسباب خونه به صاحبخونه میره."

o Literal Translation: Household goods take after the homeowner.

o English Equivalent: We are what we eat


• "اسب پیشکشی رو، دندوناشو نمی‌شمرند."

o Literal Translation: They don't count the teeth of a gift horse.
o Connotation: Do not be critical of what has been given to you for free.
o English Equivalent: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.


• "اسب ترکمنی است، هم از توبره می خوره هم ازآخور."

o Literal Translation: The horse is Turkmen; it feeds off both the nose-bag and the manger.
o Connotation: A person is trying to benefit from being close to opposing parties.
o English Equivalent: Runs with the hare, hunts with the hound.


• "اسب را گم کرده، پی نعلش می گرده."

o Literal Translation: He has lost the horse, yet, he's looking for the horseshoe.

o English Equivalent: Closing the stable door when the horse has bolted


• "اگر بیل‌زنی، باغچه خودت را بیل بزن."

o Literal Translation: If you're an able hoer, hoe your own garden first.
o Connotation: If you can do a job, do it for yourself first (instead of telling someone else how to do it).
o English Equivalent: Physician, heal thyself.


• "اگه پشیمونی شاخ بود، فلانی شاخش به آسمان می رسید."

o Literal Translation: If regret was a horn, the fellow's horn would reach the sky.
o Connotation: One's very regretful.
o English Equivalent: He's eating humble pie


• "اگر جراحی، پیزی خود تو جا بنداز."

o English Equivalent: Physician, heal thyself.


• "اگه خیر داشت، اسمشو می گذاشتند خیرالله."

o Literal Translation: If he were a do-gooder, they'd call him "Saint Do-Gooder".
o Connotation: No good comes of this person.
o English Equivalent: He's a ne'er do well


• "اگه دعای بچه‌ها اثر داشت، یک معلم زنده نمی‌موند."

o Literal Translation: If children's prayers were effective, there wouldn't be a single teacher alive.


• "اگه زری بپوشی، اگر اطلس بپوشی، همون کنگر فروشی."

o Literal Translation: Even if you wear gold lame or damask, you'll still be the same acanthus-monger.
o Connotation: No matter how you change your looks, you're the same person.
o English Equivalent: A leopard cannot change its spots


• "اگه علی ساربونه، میدونه شترو کجا بخوابونه."

o Literal Translation: If Ali is the camel-driver, he knows where to rest his camel.
o Connotation: Let the person in responsibility take care of the matter, as is the most able.
o English Equivalent:Let the manager manage


• "اگه لالائی بلدی، چرا خوابت نمی بره."

o Literal Translation: If you know how to lullaby, why can't you put yourself to sleep?
o Connotation: Why don't you follow your own advice?
o English Equivalent: Practice what you preach.


• "اگه بگه ماست سفیده، من می گم سیاهه."

o Literal Translation: If he says yogurt is white, I'll say it's black.
o Connotation: I'll say/do anything to counter him.
o English Equivalent: He'll argue black was white

Source: en.wikiquote.org