Proverb of the day: Abu Zeid's road is full of open pathways

Ahram Online , Wednesday 15 Apr 2015

Abu Zeid's road is full of open pathways

abu zeid
Reuters

 

سكة ابو زيد كلها مسالك

Sekket Abu Zeid kollaha masalek

 

Translation: Abu Zeid's road is full of open pathways.

 

Meaning: Used as an equivalent to "all roads lead to Rome," or to "there are many ways to skin a cat," this saying has an interesting origin: Abu Zeid, a legendary figure of the eleventh century, whose tribe, Bani Hilal, may have been sent by the Fatimids to pacify North African tribes in including Zanatah, was cunning and resourceful, powerful and brave, that nothing could stand in his way. So you knew that if Abu Zeid wants to get somewhere, he will manage to. His way was always "open." Abu Zeid's epic, or sirah, is still performed in verse and medieval music to this day.

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

Translated by: Nabil Shawka

 

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