Among the many collections of Egyptian proverbs, the standout is this compilation by Ahmad Taymour, a pioneer and leading figure in the field of paremiology. The Colloquial Proverbs was first published in 1949 and includes 3,188 proverbs, along with explanatory notes. Since publication the book has gained immense popularity in the Arabic-speaking world. For scholars it is considered a thesaurus, a fundamental and indispensable resource for research. Translated here into English for the first time, this work will be of interest to paremiologists and proverb collectors, but also to those seeking insights into the mindset, character, customs and history of the Egyptian people.

Hilda Albert William Matta was born in Cairo in 1954. She is Professor Emeritus at the Department of German, Cairo University, where she was Head of the Department and also Vice Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research at the Faculty of Arts Cairo University. Her research is on linguistics, paremiology, phraseology and comparative studies.