Say What? If the mountain will not come to Mohammed ... & A prophet is not recognized in his own
Welcome to your Friday and another edition of Say What?. There’s a definite prophetic vibe running through today’s proverbs. We’ll be taking a look at if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain and a prophet is not recognized in his own land, assisted by Sherlock and John from BBC Sherlock.
If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain
This saying varies widely, from different spellings of Mohammed to a complete reversal: if Mohammed will not go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed. Sometimes you may only hear or see the first part used, while the second is simply understood.
Francis Bacon coined the original in 1625 in his Essays, relating the following story of Mohammed. “Mahomet cald the Hill to come to him. And when the Hill stood still, he was neuer a whit abashed but said; If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wil go to the hil.” It was soon snapped up by two other authors. In 1643, John Owen changed hill to mountain, giving the saying the form with which we’re most familiar. This version was later included in John Ray’s A collection of English proverbs in 1670, even though it had been around in its current form for less than 50 years.
It’s not entirely clear if the Mahomet that Bacon refers to in his story is the prophet of Islam or if it is some other fellow with the same name, and there’s no proof that the saying actually originated with that Mahomet. There is even a Turkish version that doesn’t refer to Mohammed at all: if the mountain won’t come to you, you must go to the mountain.
Despite the confusion over which Mohammed this saying is about, the meaning is still clear-if you can’t have things your own way, you’ll have to find some alternative. That mountain is unlikely to move toward you all on its own (or at least not without some massive help), so it’s easier and simpler for you to go toward the mountain.
Any time your characters are faced with some impossible situation, or perhaps another character being excessively stubborn, this is definitely the saying to use:
Without looking away from his newspaper, John held out the steaming cup. “Sherlock, your tea.”
When it wasn’t immediately snatched from his hand, he glanced up. Sherlock sat in his armchair, fingers steepled in front of his mouth, staring intently at nothing in particular. With a sigh, John folded his paper and set the cup at Sherlock’s elbow. If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain, he thought, and hid his amused snort in the rustle of his newspaper.
A prophet is not recognized in his own land
This saying, too, has a couple of different versions, some of which refer to honor or acceptance instead of recognition. Its origin, however, is not in dispute; it comes from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Jesus was speaking to people in Nazareth, where he spent many years growing up. The people there rejected him and his teaching, to which Jesus responded, “Verily, I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” (Matthew 13:57) Different renderings of this same verse appear in other gospels, including “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”
Whether it be recognition, honor or acceptance, the prophet simply doesn’t receive it from anyone in his hometown. The reason for that is simple: the people in his hometown are the ones who know him best, those who watched him grow up. These are the people who, for example, knew him as the kid who struggled with chemistry in high school, and they can’t quite believe that he’s grown up and become head of research at a biochemical firm. In a way, it’s the opposite of the “local kid makes good” idea.
This proverb is not quite as easy to work into a story as Mohammed and the mountain, but your characters could use this to express how underappreciated they feel:
Somehow, Sherlock had managed to drag himself to the kitchen table, but now he was spread across it in a dramatic sprawl, face pressed against the surface.
“I did warn you about eating those,” John said, not unsympathetically, as he set the kettle to boil.
“Oh, shut it,” Sherlock grumbled into the table.
John tsked. “A prophet is never recognized in his own land.”
If you want to add a touch of antiquity or maybe a hint of mysticism to your fic, try slipping either of these proverbs in where appropriate. Just be careful you don’t turn Mohammed’s mountain into a molehill, or readers will wonder what the fuss was all about.
Sources:
If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain
This saying varies widely, from different spellings of Mohammed to a complete reversal: if Mohammed will not go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed. Sometimes you may only hear or see the first part used, while the second is simply understood.
Francis Bacon coined the original in 1625 in his Essays, relating the following story of Mohammed. “Mahomet cald the Hill to come to him. And when the Hill stood still, he was neuer a whit abashed but said; If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wil go to the hil.” It was soon snapped up by two other authors. In 1643, John Owen changed hill to mountain, giving the saying the form with which we’re most familiar. This version was later included in John Ray’s A collection of English proverbs in 1670, even though it had been around in its current form for less than 50 years.
It’s not entirely clear if the Mahomet that Bacon refers to in his story is the prophet of Islam or if it is some other fellow with the same name, and there’s no proof that the saying actually originated with that Mahomet. There is even a Turkish version that doesn’t refer to Mohammed at all: if the mountain won’t come to you, you must go to the mountain.
Despite the confusion over which Mohammed this saying is about, the meaning is still clear-if you can’t have things your own way, you’ll have to find some alternative. That mountain is unlikely to move toward you all on its own (or at least not without some massive help), so it’s easier and simpler for you to go toward the mountain.
Any time your characters are faced with some impossible situation, or perhaps another character being excessively stubborn, this is definitely the saying to use:
Without looking away from his newspaper, John held out the steaming cup. “Sherlock, your tea.”
When it wasn’t immediately snatched from his hand, he glanced up. Sherlock sat in his armchair, fingers steepled in front of his mouth, staring intently at nothing in particular. With a sigh, John folded his paper and set the cup at Sherlock’s elbow. If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain, he thought, and hid his amused snort in the rustle of his newspaper.
A prophet is not recognized in his own land
This saying, too, has a couple of different versions, some of which refer to honor or acceptance instead of recognition. Its origin, however, is not in dispute; it comes from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Jesus was speaking to people in Nazareth, where he spent many years growing up. The people there rejected him and his teaching, to which Jesus responded, “Verily, I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” (Matthew 13:57) Different renderings of this same verse appear in other gospels, including “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”
Whether it be recognition, honor or acceptance, the prophet simply doesn’t receive it from anyone in his hometown. The reason for that is simple: the people in his hometown are the ones who know him best, those who watched him grow up. These are the people who, for example, knew him as the kid who struggled with chemistry in high school, and they can’t quite believe that he’s grown up and become head of research at a biochemical firm. In a way, it’s the opposite of the “local kid makes good” idea.
This proverb is not quite as easy to work into a story as Mohammed and the mountain, but your characters could use this to express how underappreciated they feel:
Somehow, Sherlock had managed to drag himself to the kitchen table, but now he was spread across it in a dramatic sprawl, face pressed against the surface.
“I did warn you about eating those,” John said, not unsympathetically, as he set the kettle to boil.
“Oh, shut it,” Sherlock grumbled into the table.
John tsked. “A prophet is never recognized in his own land.”
If you want to add a touch of antiquity or maybe a hint of mysticism to your fic, try slipping either of these proverbs in where appropriate. Just be careful you don’t turn Mohammed’s mountain into a molehill, or readers will wonder what the fuss was all about.
Sources:
- Phrase Finder here and here
- Wiktionary
- The Free Dictionary here and here
- Oxford Dictionary online here and here
- Dictionary.com
- Biblehub.com