Arabic quotes in translation: original and meaning
Updated on How we verify quotes
A quote can cross languages while keeping its origins visible. This selection gathers texts composed in Arabic and presents them in English translations by Quotesay. Arabic translations of works originally written in another language do not belong to this selection.
Explore lines of poetry, reflections on learning and justice, passages from narratives and sayings transmitted in collections. Themes range from love and patience to travel, freedom and the way we see the world. Each card opens a reading page: the translation comes first, followed by the Arabic original, an explanation of its meaning and the available context.
Translating a verse involves choices. Our wording aims to convey its meaning in readable English; it does not necessarily preserve the original rhythm or rhyme. The “What it means” section is commentary by Quotesay, separate from the quoted words. The linked source lets you find the transmitted passage. When a later collection attributes a saying to someone without direct evidence, the context explains that limitation. Reading both the source and the explanation helps distinguish a poetic image from a literal statement, and a traditional attribution from established authorship.
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Texts shown: 56
Be patient and steadfast through every misfortune, and know that a human being is not immortal.
I have no need of homelands; no longing for return carries me back to a land I have left.
Travelling in search of knowledge and meeting teachers adds greater completeness to learning.
No one conceals something without its appearing in slips of the tongue and the features of the face.
I am weary of life’s burdens; whoever lives eighty years, indeed, grows weary.
I complain to the sea of my troubled thoughts; it answers with its raging winds.
Radiant spring has come to you, strutting and smiling with beauty, almost ready to speak.
Knowledge without action is madness, and action without knowledge cannot be.
Among human failings, I have seen none like the shortcomings of those capable of perfection.
Distance has replaced our closeness, and estrangement has taken the place of our sweet meetings.
I am the sea, with pearls hidden in my depths; have they asked the diver about my shells?
The noblest place in the world is the saddle of a swift horse, and the best companion is a book.
Offer me your advice when I am alone, and spare me advice before a crowd.
Let the days do as they will, and keep your soul at ease when fate decides.
Whatever character a person has, even if they think it hidden from others, it becomes known.
Do you know anyone nobler or greater than the one who builds and nurtures souls and minds?
Yes, I yearn and carry a burning ache, but a man like me does not let his secret be spread.
I see you resisting tears, patience your nature; does love have no command or prohibition over you?
Someone with a bitter, sick mouth finds even pure water bitter.
Small things loom large in small eyes, and great things seem small in great eyes.
What use is sight to a person if light and darkness are the same to him?
If you see a lion baring its fangs, do not imagine that it is smiling.
I am the one whose poetry even the blind have seen, and whose words have reached the deaf.
Knowledge is better than wealth: knowledge guards you, while you guard wealth.
A stranger may take an enemy for a friend; whoever does not honour himself is not honoured.
Love, may God honour you, begins in play and ends in earnest.
My people will remember me when their trials grow grave; in the dark night, the full moon is missed.
Horses, night and desert know me, as do sword, spear, paper and pen.
If you venture in pursuit of glory, settle for nothing below the stars.
The sword tells truer news than books; its edge divides earnest action from play.
You were created unbound as a passing breeze, and free as morning light in its sky.
Staying in one place brings no ease to a thoughtful, cultivated person: leave home and travel.
My homeland: even if eternal paradise kept me from you, my soul would long to return.
Rise for the teacher and honour him: the teacher is almost a messenger.
Never say “my origin, my lineage”: a man’s origin is what he has achieved.
Not everything a man wishes for does he attain: the winds blow contrary to what the ships desire.
If, one day, the people will to live, then fate must answer.
Resolutions come in the measure of the resolute, and noble deeds in the measure of the noble.
Frequently asked questions
Why show the Arabic text?
It identifies the original language and allows comparison with the translation. You can read it on each translated quote’s page.
Is the explanation part of the quote?
No. “What it means” is commentary by Quotesay. Only the text presented as the quotation is a translation of the Arabic passage.
What does source verification establish?
It establishes that the text appears in the indicated source. A later source may transmit a traditional attribution, which by itself does not prove who composed the saying.