ليس من رأى كمن سمع

English translation: An eyewitness is better than hearsay

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Arabic term or phrase:	ليس من رأى كمن سمع
English translation:	An eyewitness is better than hearsay
Entered by:	Ahmed Ali

11:06 Apr 5, 2004

Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics

Arabic term or phrase: ليس من رأى كمن سمع

I am after an equivalent proverb/expression/expressional phrase in English. I do not want a literal translation. Your input will be greatly appreciated.

Ahmed Ali

An eyewitness is better than hearsay

Explanation:
Some variants on "seeing is believing: "One EYEWITNESS is better than ten hear-so's" or "ten ear-witnesses." Or John 20:29, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Selected response from:

Colin Brayton
Local time: 11:49

Grading comment

Thank you. Just what I was looking for
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +8

Seeing is believing

Spring2007 (X)

The eye is the best witness

Sabry Hameed

3 +2

An eyewitness is better than hearsay

Colin Brayton

To see is to believe

jenan

Out of sight, out of mind.

Shazly

Answers

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

ليس من رأى كمن سمع Seeing is believing

Explanation:
.

Spring2007 (X)
Local time: 17:49
Native speaker of:

Arabic

21 mins confidence:

ليس من رأى كمن سمع The eye is the best witness

Explanation:
The eye is the most reliable witness

Sabry Hameed
Egypt
Local time: 17:49
Native speaker of: Arabic

31 mins confidence:

Out of sight, out of mind.

Explanation:
Believe what you see and lay aside what you hear.
Saudi Arabian Proverb

Blind eyes see better than blind hearts.

The tongue can paint what the eye can't see.

"I heard" is good; "I saw" is better.
Chinese Proverb

I hear and I forget, I see and I remember.
Chinese Proverb

Seeing is better than hearing.
Nigerian Proverb

Shazly
Egypt
Local time: 17:49
Native speaker of:

Arabic

33 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

ليس من رأى كمن سمع

An eyewitness is better than hearsay

Colin Brayton
Local time: 11:49
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thank you. Just what I was looking for

4 hrs confidence:

To see is to believe

Explanation:
There are many equivalent proverbs in English, you can choose the one you like the most:

ليس من رأى كمن سمع
means that you shouldn't believe a thing before you see it.

Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times.
Meaning:If you would like to understand something, you should not hear but see it. Seeing is the best way to understand it.
English: To see is to believe.

or:
Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once

http://sacu.org/proverb9.html

Hearing is not seeing

http://www.yale.edu/swahili/grammar/infinity.htm

Seeing is better than hearing

http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Proverb/197/

Reference: http://www.mines.edu/stu_life/organ/jsa/shinbunweb/proverb.h...

jenan
Local time: 18:49
Native speaker of:

Arabic

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ليس من رأى كمن سمع

English translation: An eyewitness is better than hearsay

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ليس من رأى كمن سمع

English translation: An eyewitness is better than hearsay

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