Text

“Don’t Lie or You Will Go Blind”, spoken in Arabic. Original Arabic version unknown.

Context

Learned from the informant’s Arabic mother, originally spoken in Arabic. It has likely been passed on over time.

The proverb is used as a reminder to children not to lie, usually when an adult is already aware they have done something wrong and the child is hiding it.

Analysis

This proverb is very similar to many folk tales in other cultures aimed at children, in that it enforces good behavior / wards away bad behavior by warning against a negative consequence for not doing so. In this case, the connection between lying and blindness is unclear. However, as it was likely necessary for the consequence to be something the targeted child would actually be afraid of, there may not be a major connection there. Most people would choose to avoid becoming blind, if given the option.