FAHALI WAWILI WANAPOPIGANA, ZIUMIAZO NI NYASI
This is a Swahili proverb that could be translated loosely to mean that when two bulls (fahali wawili) fight (wanapopigana), they that get hurt (ziumiazo) are grasses (nyasi).
The proverb means that no strong party will get hurt, will suffer damages or casualties in a conflict pitting them against other strong parties. The suffering will almost always be experienced by the weak, defenseless, almost always innocent individuals who may not even know that there is a conflict, leave alone the reasons why we are fighting.
Take for instance the Ukraine war. I am tempted to say that it is the US against Russia in a seemingly inevitable battle of supremacy but I digress. In this war, who get hurt if not women, children, the elderly and people in whose neighbourhood some blood-thirsty guy in military fatigues decides to drop the bomb? In the global context, the war has caused untold suffering in remote parts of the world where people have been subjected to inflation and lack of basic commodities just because there are guys fighting where these things come from.
The proverb accepts the reality of the existence of conflicts. And our sages understand that the chaps fighting do not feel the effects of their squabbles. The subtle, unspoken thought is that, whenever possible, let us avoid war. Let the war in Ukraine end for people to have peace.
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