Algerian folklore and cultural heritage is very rich in lyrics for songs, stories, proverbs, humourous anecdotes and jokes and common wisdom that is very inspiring and most of which remains true in this day and age. Cultural heritage is very revealing of any society’s values, fears and hopes and contemplating Algerian expressions of common wisdom could give an Algerian perspective on Algerian affairs in an entertaining and valuable way. If you know of any Algerian sayings, proverbs, song lyrics, moral stories, advice, jokes or humurous anecdotes, this is the place to post and share them.
Patriots on Fire
Algerian musings on Algeria and the rest
I received this joke [in French] by email through a colleague today. I think it depicts a facette of Algerian mentality quite well:
Another similar joke:
In these times of big projects and (inherent?) financial scandals, this old joke is worth sharing:
Ruh a themzi (Go youth) is one of Ait-Menguellet‘s recent songs, from his 2002 album, Inassen (tell them). I tried to translate its lyrics into English and I hope they kept a little of their original magic and wisdom.
You can listen to the song here
Some Algerian proverbs on friendship, the last two being interestingly contradictory:
These proverbs praise labour and activity.
Around marriage…
For when the result is the opposite of the expectation…
There’s a tradition among women living around Algiers to gather in the evening during Ramadhan and tell rhyming expressions which could be prayers, thoughts or wishes. These expressions are called bouqalates, and below are some examples:
Proverbs encouraging the people to rely on themselves and nobody else.
on their way to a motel , a honeymooners from algeria , the bride lost her balance and almost fail if it wasn’t for the groom who gently held her tightly , saying be careful darling ; after three days , going back home at the same spot she did it again , the groom so angry at her screaming , are you blind or what …….. what make this guy change the tone of his voice ; just three days brother , welcome to the reel world.
two migrants laborers from algeria , one of them get sick and ask his mate to write a letter to his family telling them about the sickness of their provider in very details and kept going , the friend respond to him saying , look I’m just going to tell them that you’re dead and that’s it’.
Thanks Dahmane for your contribution. I don’t think the first one is specific to Algerians though…
you’re right , I read it a long time in a Lebanese paper , i thought it’s a nice fit for algerians too. thanks to you too for trying to bring something to life where nobody seems to care shukran .
About time to post some Kabyle proverbs. It’s interesting that I wrote the above Arab proverbs in Arabic with Latin transliteration but no translation (like I expected the non-Arab /non-Algerian readers to understand :) ) and now I use Latin transliteration (I would use Tifinagh which I learnt when I was a teenager if I had an adequate keyboard) and English translation for the Kabyle ones. It probably tells something about the languages’ situation in Algeria.
“Amu dhella3 leqmash, ama tellidh ama ulash”
Said to useless things/persons. Nobody notices their presence or their absence.
“Kthalaghass tardhasth iwi ighil”
Said to someone who uses some other one’s generosity to get more than he/she deserves/needs.
“Win ivghan adh yizur yarqiq”
I like this one. Whoever wants to become solid/strong/tough must suffer (this is not the literal translation).
Mnarvi, tu m’as rappelé quelques proverbes que je ne comprenais pas quand mes parents me les répétaient. C’est ton “dja yes3a weddar tes3a” qui me les a remémorés.
- “Akher sboula qetta3 sob3ou”. Au dernier épi, il s’est coupé le doigt. Se dit lorsque quelqu’un fait preuve d’efforts mais gache tout à la fin.
- “Ma’hla el fass fi yed ennass”. Que la pioche est est belle aux mains des autres. Se dit pour le fainéant.
(c’est un proverbe qui va très bien aux “chefs d’équipe” très nombreux chez nous ;-)
-”Men lahaytou bekharlou”. Avec sa barbe encense-le ou bien fais-lui de l’encens. Se dit quand quelqu’un fait preuve de générosité alors qu’il ne fait en réalité don que de ce qui appartient à la personne à qui il vient de donner.
Merci Oumelkheir d’avoir partage ces proverbes.
Il est interessant de remarquer que la sagesse humaine mene souvent aux memes conclusions et ce malgre les differences entre les peuples:
“Akher sboula qetta3 sob3ou” a son equivalent en Kabyle avec “yuzat ar u3anqiq idjat“, et
“mahla el fass fi yed ennass” existe en Kabyle sous “fessous uguelzim g fous umarthah“.
If you seek an advice or if you are advising somebody keep these in mind.
I3addad ur issellem ma dh udhay nagh dhi neslem.
“He passed by without saying hi, as if he’s a Jew and not a Muslim”.
Yiwen yetghenni selquran, wayedh ur yessin elhamdou ithzallith.
“One sings with Quran, and another doesn’t even know el fatiha for the prayers”.
Ur hamlagh Gma, Ur hamlagh win ith yewthen.
“I don’t like my brother but I don’t like those who beat him”. Interesting having Libya in mind…
Ennanas i Fer3oun amek i thughaledh ed rabbi. Innayassen Ar thura yiwen ur yidiqerre3
“They asked pharaoh, how did you become a god? He replied, till now nobody prevented me from doing it”. This is interesting as well when you think of
mostall the Arab rulers.New-generation “proverbs”, funny but meaningful :)
A little follow-up on this blog’s recent posts. Here are some jokes on Algerian presidents and politicians:
Boumediene:
Can’t remember any.
Chadli:
Probably the one who stimulated Algerian imagination most.
Abassi Madani:
I’ll share only one here.
Zeroual:
This is the only joke I know about him…
Bouteflika:
I know none unfortunately.
I understand you Mnervi, after years of nonstop jokes, it would be difficult to mention them all here … insufficient space.
But if you’re looking for a real speech there I’ll join you and say :
Proverbs starting with elli: