اعمل الطيب وارميه للبحر
Emel eltayyib wermeeh elbahr
Translation: Do a good deed and throw it in the sea.
Meaning: A good deed is its own reward; don't expect to be repaid for acts of kindness. The hidden meaning is that you cannot really trust others, so either be mean like the rest of them, or be the good person you crave to be. You can afford to be good, so live up to your own image. This proverb is the literal opposite of tit-for-tat, but just like tit-for-tat, it may denote troubled times, when holding to one's principles is almost like swimming against the current.
Source: ُEgyptian proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center For Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha,
Translation by: Nabil Shawkat
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