₦airaland Forum

There is the tendency among 'ignoramuses' to regard the Hausas and in fact all black-men, as stupid and unintelligent. Far from this, the 'blacks'/Hausas have a very wonderful imagination and great intelligence. we(the blacks) probably have better and deeper proverbs that the "whites". To prove this, I have decided to take my time to pick most of these lovely proverbs from a book written by G.merrick and some few others from the elders...

I doubt if there is anyone who doesn't love proverbs. To me, a proverb is much more than a "sauce" in a conversation, it is a special gift bestowed on mankind.

Here are 50 lovely Hausa proverbs for your reading pleasure.

1.) Maichi da uwa ba shi kuka 'n soodi.

Meaning: He who eats with his mother will not have to ask for the soodi, for she will give it to him as a matter of course.

Soodi- the surplus or remainder of anything. The usual way of eating is for everyone to dip his hand in turn into a calabash until the food is finished: the scrapings are the soodi, and this the child of the house would naturally get.

2.) Rua ba su yami banza.

Meaning: Water does not get bitter without a cause.

There is reason for everything

3.) Ba don “rigan'n domin” ba, da mutum ya mutu masiachi.

Meaning: If it were not for riga'n domin a man(a fellow) would die poor.

Riga'n domin, because of some one else, for someone else's sake, thrugh someone else's influence.

Na shigga “riga'n domin" wuri'n Abdu.

Meaning: I got it through Abdu.

4.) Makafo ya rassa ido, ya che ido na wari.

Meaning: The blind man lacks eyes, he says eyes stink.

5.) Idan rua ya zubar, ya ber tulu, ya yi keau.

Meaning: Even if the water is spilt, as long as the tulu is not broken, no harm.

Tulu- the jar used for carrying water from the well or stream; it has a small mouth. Different districts have different patterns.

Don't cry over spilt milk. That can be remedied

6.) Ba domin tsawo akanga wata ba

Meaning: The moon is not seen because of great stature.

It is by no merit of yours that you have done that. Anyone can do it.

7.) Fawa biu tana bata hankali'n kuda.

Meaning: Two pieces of meat confuse the mind of the fly.

To hesitate between two things, two cources, etc

8.) Mai akwia ya yi taffia derri, bale mai kua.

Meaning: If the owner of a goat is not afraid to travel by night, why should the owner of a hyena be(seeing that night is the usual time for a hyena to move about).

9.) Da ayi jiranka ga abinchi, gara akayi ka jira'n abinchi.

Meaning: Better that you should be made to wait for food than that food should be made to wait for you.

10.) Mai tambaya ba shi bata, sai dei asheerinsa ka tonoa

Meaning: He who asks does not go wrong, but his secret is dug up.

The first part of this proverb is very commonly used by itself with the meaning, "Always ask if you are in doubt."
The meaning, as it stands, is--before you ask for information, be quite sure that it will not give away your object, i.e. If you wish to conceal it

11.) kunkurru ya so dambe, ba shi da yasa

Meaning: The tortoise wishes to fight with his fist, but he has no fingers.

Impotent wrath

12.) Komi ya ke chikkin dan kaza, shafu ya deddi da sanninshi.

Meaning: whatever there is inside a chicken, the hawk has been familiar with it for a very long time.

There is nothing much you can teach me about that

13.) Gishiri nema (na yi ma) mai'n kadde daria'n rana, randa rua ya zo gishiri ya ji kumia

Meaning: Salt laughs at shea butter while the sun shines, but when the rain comes, it hides its head.

14.) Idan dei a chini(ni=ne) ba a seyer ba, kaza ta fi doki

Meaning: if it is a matter of eating and not of selling, then the hen is better than a horse.

Everything has its own peculiar uses

15.) Woni tsuntsu ya ke gudu rua, awuagwa rua ta ke nema

Meaning: Some birds avoid water. The duck searches for it

Everyone to his own taste

16.) Idan angulu ta bia maka maradi, zabua ta taffi da zanenta

Meaning: if the vulture fulfils your desire, the guinea fowl will pass you by..(Beautiful) marks and all.

If you are satisfied to associate with such low people, a better class will have nothing to do with you

17.) Buzarre ba shi rabba jaki da kaia.

Meaning: Bucking will not separate a donkey and its load; for the owner will merely put it on again.

Don't kick against the pricks

18.) Tsimmi da kasshi chikki ba shi magani'n yungwa.

Eking out (or saving up for another day) when your stomach is empty is not a cure for hunger.

19.) Ba aroko'n jinni ga fara.

Meaning: blood is not begged from a locust.

Blood from a stone/rock

20.) Fura da zai (za ya) zubar ba shi tara'n guribi.

Meaning: A pot of fura that is going to fall will not stay in the hole hollowed out for it.

What must be must be

Guribi- the scratching a hen makes to lay an egg in

21.) Mugu'n gatarinka ya fi “sare ka bani”

Meaning: A bad axe of your own is better than one you have to wait for until the owner has finished with it

22.) Mutum ba shi soka'n chikkinshi, saanan shi komo shi yi kirari

Meaning: A man does not stick a knife into his stomach and then go and boast about it.

A man does not do an injury to, or make an accusation against a relation and then go and boast about it

23.) Mu dei bera'n rami dain, en ba agamma ashigga ba, agamma a fita

Meaning: We are mice of one hole, if we don't meet going in, we meet going out.

If you refuse to give a man something that he asks for, he might reply as above, meaning, "Any day you may want to borrow from me"

24.) Akwia ta mutu, ta fata na sha'n wuya.

Meaning: The goat has died and left its skin to encounter difficulties.

The skin being the children and family generally

25.) Ba samu'n abinchi ke da wuya, wurinda zaka chishi ke da wuya

Meaning: As the hen says, "It is easy enough to find food, but hard to get away to a place where you can eat it in peace."

Your friends and relatives always want to share your goods

26.) Anatamaha wutta makera, auka isketa masaka

Meaning: One is expecting fire at a blacksmith's, one gets it at the weaver's

The unexpected happens

27.) Hankuri, hatchi'n tukunia ne, ba shi wuya'n kuriwa.

Meaning: Patience is like grass for (lighting a fire to cook) a pot, it quickly comes to an end.

28.) Bunsuru ya je berbera ya dawo da chikki

Meaning: The he-goat goes a-seeking the she-goat; he returns in child.

29.) So daia gujia'n makafo ta kono, na biu sai shi chita dainya.

Meaning: Once the blind man's ground-nut is burnt (while he is cooking it) next time he eats it raw.

A burnt child fears the fire

30.) Karifi'n mata sai yawa'n magana

Meaning: The strength of a woman is in her tongue

31.) Doki “da na sani” ba shi zua yaki

Meaning: The horse, "had I known," does not go to war.

32.) wonda ya che ya iya hadie gatari, a rike masa koata.

Meaning: If a man says he can swallow a pickaxe, hold the handle for him.

33.) Wonda ba ya san dunduffa ba, hakikan ya san muria nasa.

Meaning: Though you may not have met a celebrated man, at any rate you will have heard his name.

Dunduffa- a large drum, too big to be carried while it is being beaten

34.) Komi tsawo wuya, kai bissa

Meaning: however long the neck is, the head is above it

35.) Ba keau ba ga daki'n gona, shi dei ya yi magani'n rua.

Meaning: The farm shelter is not beautiful, but it keeps out rain.

Daki'n gona, an erection of a grass put up temporarily while the owner of a farm is working on it.

36.) Wonda ya fada rijia, ko anbashi kaifi'n takobi, ya kamashi.

Meaning: A man who falls into a well will seize even the edge of a sword.

Clutch at straws

37.) Koda zaki ya zamma wulakantachi, ba ya yi wasa dan khinzeri ba

Meaning: Though the lion is humbled, he won't play with the pig.

I have not fallen so low as that

38.) Na Ma'azu kasshi'n shanu

Meaning: The Nupes are like cow's dung- they are so deceitful.

Cow's dung which has been exposed to the air has a hard outside and a soft inside; so the manner of a Nupe is sincere while his heart is false.

Ma'azu- a king of Nupe.

39.) Wanzami'n Bohnu, ka sha' woni, ba s sha' ka ba

Meaning- O barber of the Bohnu, you circumcize but no one circumxizes uou

Bohnu, a district west of Nigeria

40.) Idan gora tana rawwah, ba chikka ne ba.

Meaning: if the bottle is shaking, it will not be filled.

A rolling stone gathers no moss

41.) Ennua'n giginia na nesa ka sha sainyi.

Meaning: The shade of the palm tree (deleb) only from a distance do you enjoy the coolness.

Said of a man who entertains strangers well, but neglects his own family

42.) Ya chi deri'n masa, ya kasa dauka'n derin tamfassua.

Meaning: He will eat 100 masa cakes, but if he is given 100 needles to carry, he says he is tired.

43.) Dunia birgima hankaka, en ka ga fari ka ga bakki

Meaning: The world is full of changes and chances

The hankaka, or crow, has a white breast, and if it rolls in the dust one sees first its black back and its white breast

44.) Dunia rawwah yan mata ne, na gaba shi koma baya

Meaning: The world is like the play of children, the one in front often becomes the one behind.

45.) Idan ka ji makafo ya che “zo mu yi wasa'n jifa” ya taka duchi ne

Meaning: Beware of a blind man who says, "let us play at stone throwing," for he most likely has a stone under his foot.

Be on guard against a man who invites you to compete at anything you know he is not generally good at

46.) Dauka'n wuya ba ya san gari da nesa

Meaning: A man who is carried on someone's neck does not notice the distance of a town.

47.) Kaffa ba ta magani'n hauka doki

Meaning: The feet will not rest where there is no earth

48.) Dukawa'n wada ba shi hanna ka tasshi da tsawonka

Meaning: To salute a dwarf by bowing will not prevent you from rising to your full height again.

49.)Alkemma bissa duchi, Allah on a rock

Meaning: Allah will give water to the wheat on a rock.

Allah will look after you if no one else will

50.) Taffia'n itachi'n kaddangari

Meaning: Good intentions

The lizard, when it feels cold at night, says to itself "tomorrow I will find a smouldering tree to sleep in so that I shall be warm." Next day when it basks in the sun it forgets and does not do it; the consequence is that it feels cold again next night

All thanks to Merrick for painstakingly collecting most of these in his book titled “Hausa Proverbs" and our great grand fathers for a job well done.

Will be coming up with lovely Yoruba, Igbo, Ibibio and Nupe proverbs in the coming days.

If you know some other lovely hausa proverbs, please don't hesitate to share. There is love in sharing.

Aminat508:
Ina kwana= inagejia


Good morning =Good morning to u too


Mai suya: saya seller


Barawo: theif


Inasunki : i love you

Ymodulus abeg come help me here

Ymodulus:
Heheh!!

Ina karnaki.




@ Midolian
Nice one. Just some misguided goons. Terming hausas as idiots

Ymodulus:
Heheh!!

Ina karnaki.




@ Midolian
Nice one. Just some misguided goons. Terming hausas as idiots

Ymodulus:
Heheh!!

Ina karnaki.




@ Midolian
Nice one. Just some misguided goons. Terming hausas as idiots

GOATandYAMtheory:
51) In rana ta fito ta fin hanu ba ya kare ta - if the sun rises, a million hands cannot block its rays.



Lalasticlala, obinoscopy, ishilove

veekid:
its well

Aminat508:
Ina kwana= inagejia


Good morning =Good morning to u too


Mai suya: saya seller


Barawo: theif


Inasunki : i love you

Ymodulus abeg come help me here