Uswah

Don't give me a fish. Teach me how to fish.

لَأن يَأخُذَ أحَدُكُم حَبلَه، فيَأتيَ بحُزمةِ الحَطَبِ على ظَهرِه، فيَبيعَها، فيَكُفَّ اللهُ بها وجهَه خَيرٌ له مِن أن يَسألَ النَّاسَ أعطَوْه أو مَنَعوه

For one of you to take his rope, come back with a bundle of firewood on his back and sell it, and Allah thereby spare his face, is better for him than asking people, whether they give him or refuse him.Translated by Uswah draft, awaiting review

Sahih al-Bukhari 1471

Narrator : al-Zubayr ibn al-AwwamGraded by : al-BukhariSource :

Text and grading: the Hadith Encyclopedia, Dorar.net

The parallel

The rope and the firewood, rather than the fish: work that preserves a person's dignity is put above asking, whatever the answer to the asking would have been.

How close it isClose, and not identical. The proverb is about capability. The hadith is about dignity: a different reason for the same advice.

Read the situationSomeone keeps asking me for money

More sayings

  1. Easy come, easy go.Quran
  2. Actions speak louder than words.Sahih
  3. You become like the people you spend time with.Sahih