ProverbChallengeArabic origin

من جد وجد (Man jadda wajada)

Meaning: Hard work is rewarded.

Literally: Whoever strives, finds

Example: “درس كل يوم ونجح بتفوق. من جد وجد.” — He studied every day and passed with honors: hard work pays off.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 3 more languages

  • English: No pain, no gain
  • French: On n'a rien sans rien (literally: You get nothing without nothing)
  • Spanish: El que algo quiere, algo le cuesta (literally: Whoever wants something must pay something for it)
  • Japanese: 苦あれば楽あり (Ku areba raku ari) (literally: If there is suffering, there is ease)
  • German: Ohne Fleiß kein Preis (literally: Without diligence, no prize)
  • Russian: Без труда не вынешь и рыбку из пруда (Bez truda ne vynesh' i rybku iz pruda) (literally: Without effort you can't even pull a fish from the pond)
  • Polish: Bez pracy nie ma kołaczy (literally: No work, no cakes)
  • Turkish: Emek olmadan yemek olmaz (literally: Without toil there's no food)

Origin: Two short verbs that sound almost alike, jadda (strove) and wajada (found): whoever puts in the effort finds what they were looking for.

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