اللى ييجى فى الريش بقشيش
Elli yegi fil reesh baqsheesh
Translation: Anything (harmful) that damages (only) the feathers is baksheesh (a small tip or sacrifice).
Meaning: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The reference to feathers, or reesh, is needed to rhyme with baksheesh (a small tip). Although Ottoman control over Egypt practically ended at the turn of the nineteenth century, Turkish words, such as baqsheesh, remain part of the language to this day.
Source: ُEgyptian proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center For Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha,
Translated by: Nabil Shawkat
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