12 beautiful Kiswahili proverbs from Tanzania

Kiswahili is the glue that binds Tanzania together. It’s essentially a Bantu tongue, enriched by thousands of loan words, primarily Persian and Arabic, but also Hindi, Portuguese, German and English.

Kiswahili is pronounced exactly as it’s written, with the stress nearly always on the penultimate syllable. Where an apostrophe precedes a vowel (eg ng’ombe; cattle), the vowel is accentuated, something like a gulp.

The ability to pepper conversation with appropriate proverbs (methali) is also much admired in Tanzania – as elsewhere in Africa. The pithier sayings even find their way onto kangas worn by women, to express sentiments that might be taboo if spoken aloud.

Here are a few of our favourites, taken from the new Rough Guide to Tanzania. For more inspiration, read our run-down of the best things to do in Tanzania.

1. Every bird flies with its own wings

2. Hurry hurry has no blessings

3. He who wanders around by day a lot, learns a lot

4. A heart deep in love has no patience

5. The gratitude of a donkey is a kick

6. Better to lose your eyes than your heart

7. He who praises rain has been rained on

8. Don’t set sail using somebody else’s star

9. Put a riddle to a fool, a clever person will solve it

10. Where there’s a will there’s a way

11. If you love a pumpkin also love its flower

12. A hasty person misses the sweet things

Vadim Petrakov/Shutterstock

13. Better to stumble with toe than tongue

14. A good thing sells itself, a bad one advertises itself

Explore more of Tanzania with the Rough Guide to Tanzania. Compare flights, find tours, book hostels and hotels for your trip, and don’t forget to purchase travel insurance before you go.