Old sayings used to be the spice of everyday conversation. Some of the proverbs that were popular a few decades back have fallen out of general use, while others are entering the language everyday. In modern times, “new” old sayings have been generated through the mass media, films and songs. Poets know the power of old sayings, and classical poets in general have been even more aware of the power that the vernacular voice can have on the public's ear. The famous Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawki, for example, also known as the “prince of poets”, once said that classical Arabic was under threat from the vernacular poems of his immensely talented contemporary Bayram Al-Tonsi, whose lines were often memorised instantly by millions. In Egypt, it used to be the case that almost every second line of every conversation was a proverb. Discussions could be held, not in newly formulated sentences, but almost solely using stock phrases, idioms and proverbs. The novelist Khayri Shalabi once said that no other nation peppered its conversation so much with proverbs as did the Egyptian. Proverbs, he added, were stock phrases that had the added value of wisdom that had been tested over time and handed down from one generation to the next. Women, especially those born a generation or two ago, have also often traditionally used proverbs as a means of communication, persuasion and satire, and as a colourful embellishment of ordinary talk. The tradition of using proverbs in speech and writing goes back not only generations, but perhaps thousands of years. One text long associated with ancient Egypt, for example, is the Book of the Dead, which employs what can only be described as stock phrases on almost every page. One of the best-known scholars who dedicated time and effort to the subject was Ahmed Taymur Pasha, whose collection of vernacular proverbs, compiled and published in the early 20th century, is a masterpiece of popular scholarship. Ibrahim Ahmed Shaaban's book Al-Shaab Al-Masri fi amthalihi Al-Amiya (The Egyptian People seen through their Vernacular Proverbs), published in 1972, is also a valuable addition to the subject. “Ordinary people are the real movers and shakers of history,” Shaaban asserts in his book, adding that the oral commentary that survives in the form of proverbs is a distillation of folkloric wisdom. Another scholar, Abdel-Aziz Al-Ahawani, says that proverbs are more dominant in the speech of the uneducated than in that of the educated, for they are easy to understand and powerful to communicate. “Cook, woman slave,” to which the answer is “yes, master, if you come up with the cash” is a fictional conversation that dates back many centuries. Yet, it carries a simple message: if you ask for something, you must provide the means. “If you steal, steal a camel; and if you fall in love, fall in love with the moon.” This is another saying that must be 100 years old or more. But once again, the message is clear: don't go to any trouble, unless that trouble is worth it. A camel is worth the trouble of stealing, and a woman of exceptional beauty like the moon is worth the trouble of falling in love with. “Life is a gypsy woman dancer” — proverbs can be misogynistic or even racist, as the ordinary people who use them often don't use the modern sieve of political correctness. Here there is a reference to gypsy women as fickle and unreliable — just like life. Professor Fayqah Hussein, an authority on the subject, has said that folkloric proverbs are “the fruit of oriental culture”, a view that underlines the colour of vernacular stock phrases. A more classical saying, perhaps two centuries old if not more, is “your ruler is your adversary; if you obey him, he'll oppress you.” This is quite a spectacular statement in that not only does it describe the mutual distrust between ruler and subject, a recurrent theme in history, but it also calls on the subject to resist. Don't give in to the ruler too easily, it advises, or you'll never know what will come next. We all complain that our modern rulers often don't play by the rules, some of them being corrupt, while others are just inept, unjust or misguided. But there is one ruler whose legacy has been remembered fondly because of his role in the creation of modern Egypt. However, Mohamed Ali, who started a revolution in the country's economy, education, health, industry and military about two centuries ago, was an absolute ruler in every sense of the world. The contemporary historian Edward W Lane said that Mohamed Ali had unlimited authority. He could sentence any of his subjects to death without trial. It was enough for him to make a “horizontal gesture” with his hand to have someone executed. “Like the ruler, he only considers those he sees.” This proverb carries the memory of the rough-and-tumble justice that was common in mediaeval times. If the ruler wanted to get something done in those days, he could just grab passers-by and put them to work, or flog them. At a pinch, a ruler needing to send a message to the general population could also make an example of potentially innocent people. But there is also finesse in the collective memory of our ancestors. Here is a good proverb: “if smartness were a function of strength, the bull would become a pasha.” You have to think first and watch your step, if you want to go high, as high as a pasha, the proverb says. The reference is to a Turkish title, and this dates this proverb to somewhere over the past five centuries and not before. Some Egyptian proverbs seem as fresh today as when they were first coined. “He who eats the bread of the prince, strikes with his sword,” for example. This expresses the essence of politics at a time when the rulers were princes and wars were fought with the sword. But it may remain true today. My own favourite proverb is this one, meant for rulers: “doing right by subjects is better than hiring soldiers.” A ruler who has the support of the nation has a safer future than one who has an immense army and police force. Had this message always been heeded, the region would be in better shape than it is today.
