Proverbs have been the author's passion since he was a small boy, listening to the grown-ups chatter in his Lebanese village. Later in Iraq, he became enchanted by the witty folk sayings that were part of everyday discourse. Here he brings together over 4000 proverbs, humorous and wise anecdotes and popular quotations from throughout the Arab world. Most of the proverbs have been translated from Arabic sources. However, several proverbs of Sumeria, an ancient Iraqui civilization, and of Kurdish, Persian and Turkish origin have been accepted too. The book also includes: Hadith utterances - the Prophet Muhammad's counsel as traditionally related by Islamic peoples; quatrains by Omar Khayyam and Abul Alaa-Ma'arri, poets of the eleventh century; couplets by Sheikh Sadi of Shiraz, a famous Sufi of the thirteenth century; stories of Bahlool, a figure from folklore and his amusing encounters in ancient Baghdad.