Pashto Proverbs

پشتو متلونه

Topic: Class & Local

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• An abandoned Gomal is better than a dead brother
  له مړه وروره پريښي ګومل ښه دي

  This is a Powenda proverb. The Gomal is the pass or rather torrent bed, by which the Powendas enter British territory and in the spring return to their homes. During the passage, they have to defend themselves against the attacks of the Mahsuds and Suleiman Khels.
   

• Had rice (cultivation) been easy, Manja would have eaten it
  که شولي اسانه وي، نو مانجه به خوړلې

  This saying has roots way back to the 1830s. Manja; who was an enterprising Marwat dug a small canal from a stream called the Lorah and attempted rice cultivation. As his canal failed, he was ruined. The proverb is now said when friends wish to dissuade a man from any difficult undertaking.
   

• The waters of Seli, the wheaten cake of Marwat
  اوبه د سيلي، نغند د مروت

  Seli, or Soheli, is a torrent bed near the village of Kundi, in Dera Ismail Khan. Its water is said to be very sweet and wholesome, and the wheat of Marwat is considered very superior.
   

• The day of Bannu, the night of Marwat
  ورځ د بنو، شپه د مروت
  The former is cool by day, owing to the country being well irrigated, and the latter is cool by night, owing to its being an open sandy country, and subject to cooling southern breezes.
   

• A sun-stricken man recovers, a moon stricken man does not.
  د نمر تاوهلي رغيږي او د سپوږمئي تاو وهلي نه رغيږي
  This is a Marwat superstition. It is supposed that moonbeams cause sickness and calamity, consequently Marwats are averse to sleeping in them without covering their faces.
   

• Niazis like rows.
  نيازي په بد راضي
  This is Marwat saying and is targetting the Niazis. In old times, opponents would arrange their armies in ranks when at war. The Niazis, now settled in Isa Khel, were forcibly expelled from Marwat by the Marwats between two hundred fifty and three hundred years ago (The author writes this in 1870s so he is probably referring to period between 1570 - 1620). From the date of expulsion until ten or fifteen years before the annexation of the Punjab (NWFP was annexed from Punjab in 1901), they were constantly fighting with the Marwats.
   

• He won't be a Dawarh whose fringe is not greasy
  هغه به دوړ نه وي چه پلو ئي غوړ نه وي
  The inhabitants of the Dawarh valley, a fertile, independent tract in the hills, about two marches west of Bannu, are well off, and liberal in their expenditure of Ghee. They often anoint their guests with Ghee as well. At the Eid festival, their Maliks put roasted fowls on their turbans and let any one who can carry them off. When a plot of land becomes exhausted, they are said to sometimes kill a traveller on it - the holier the man is, the better - and convert the spot into a shrine, in the hopes that through it a blessing will accrue. The application of the proverb is that a man who has not the outward signs of wealth, will not be wealthy.
   

• Have you become Khan Mir Khan that you muzzle a young camels mouth ??
  څه خان نور خان شوې چه د جونګيو خولې تړې
  Khan Mir Khan was a tyrannical chief in Marwat, who carried his brutality so far that he used to muzzle young camels. No one since has ever done such a thing. Above is said of a weak man, who attempts to do something outrageous.
   

• Though a Hindkai be your right arm, cut it off.
  هندکي که دې ښي وزر وي، پريکوه ئي
   

• Go inside with a fan, outside with a blanket.
  متوزه له بوزي سره وزه له شيرک سره

  That is, being sleeping inside your house while it is still so hot that you require a Pakai (fan), i.e., about the end of August; and begin sleeping outside whilst you still require a blanket, i.e., early in May. These two rules embody the health code of all Marwats and Bannuchis, if not of Pathans generally.

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