Photo by Bassem Abou Al-Abbas
الباب يفوّت جمل
El bab yefawwet gamal
Translation: The door is big enough for a camel to pass through.
Meaning: It you don't like it here, feel free to go. We're not trying to keep you against your will. A camel was the most impressive beasts of burden around, and it was used just the same way as a modern truck. Fully laden, it was of the proportion of a light truck: about 1.7 m wide and 2.5 m high. So the door that would allow a camel to pass is twice as big as the door of an average room.
Source: ُEgyptian proverbs, (Al-Ahram Center For Translation and Publishing, 1986) by Ahmed Taymour Pasha,
Translated by: Nabil Shawka
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