يخلق من الشبه اربعين 

Yekhlaq men el shaba arbe’in

Translation: God creates forty people who look the same.

Meaning: This is more of an exclamation than a proverb.  Still very much in use, you can use this phrase whenever you mistake someone for someone else. If you’re at a cafe and run into your old friend Joseph, slap him on the back, and then realise your error when the man gives you a blank, puzzled stare, this is what you say. God, for whatever reason, has created 40 other copies of Joseph.

Source: Egyptian Proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center for Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha

Translated by: Nabil Shawkat