Proverbs, Symbols of Cultural Interaction between Iran and the Arab World

The Iran-Arab relations, dating back to the far past, i.e. to the time of Achaemenid Empire, was based on the principle of good neighborliness. These relations rose to perfection with the advent of Islam and conversion of the Iranians to the new religion. Increased interactions between the two nations deeply affected language, culture and literary productions. An example of the mutual influence of the two nations could be the cultural symbols such as proverbs and sayings, manifested in both Persian and Arabic languages. A comparison of the two cultures and languages will show their cultural exchanges and the degree of impressionability from each other. In this paper, we will review linguistic exchanges and the importance of proverbs in Iranian and Arab cultures by using an inductive-deductive method. We have also studied some commonalities in Iranian-Arab proverbs and used them as cultural media for identifying commonalities in the two civilizations. It was understood through this survey that some Arab proverbs have their roots in Iranian culture and vice versa. Also, many of the proverbs have joint roots that depict the joint experience of the two nations as well as their cultural relations, commonalities, and interactions.