Amthal (Proverb)

Amthal (Proverb) — connector documentation

• MCP endpoint: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: POST https://amthal.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://amthal.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
• Authentication: none required. An optional Authorization: Bearer <key> raises rate limits.
• Health: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/tools.json
• Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/amthal · agent@connectorbay.com

What Amthal (Proverb) is for

"Amthal" (أمثال) is the Arabic word for "proverbs" — the plural of "mathal" (مثل). The moment a grandparent, a friend, an Egyptian film, or a family group chat drops a line like "الطيور على أشكالها تقع" or "دق الحديد وهو حامي" and the words alone don't tell you what's actually meant — answered from one hand-curated reference of Arabic-language amthal (proverbs) and hikam (wisdom sayings), not a scroll through forum threads or a shaky machine translation.

The dataset spans classical/Modern Standard Arabic proverbs shared widely across the Arab world alongside well-known regional-dialect sayings from the Levant, Egypt, the Gulf and the Maghreb, each labeled by its region — pan-Arab/classical where a saying is shared broadly, or the specific dialect region where it's genuinely local.

What it does

Look up over a hundred real, well-known Arabic proverbs: each one's Arabic script, a transliteration, a literal word-for-word English translation, its real figurative meaning, which region it comes from, and — only where one genuinely exists — the closest equivalent English proverb or idiom (proverb_info); search by keyword across every proverb's Arabic text, transliteration, translation, meaning and theme (proverb_search); browse by theme — patience, wisdom, family, hospitality, time, friendship, money, work, speech, fate, food, or caution (proverbs_by_theme); browse by region — pan-Arab/classical, Levantine, Egyptian, Gulf, or Maghrebi (proverbs_by_region); get a deterministic proverb of the day, the same for everyone asking on a given date (proverb_of_the_day); pull a random proverb, optionally filtered to a theme (random_proverb); go either direction between an Arabic proverb and an English idiom to find the closest match this dataset actually has, together with a note on how close the match is (english_equivalent); get a fuller explanation of a proverb's figurative sense plus the typical context in which it's said (explain_meaning); and look up short glossary entries covering ten terms about the Arabic proverb and oral-wisdom tradition — mathal, hikma, qawl ma'thur, mathal sha'bi, fusha, ammiyya/darija, kinaya, saj', Majma' al-Amthal, and amthal al-'arab (proverb_glossary).

What it is not

Not a live translation service and not an exhaustive academic proverb corpus — Amthal (Proverb) is a hand-curated reference, verified as of the build date stated in its own data, covering the amthal a learner or a curious visitor is actually likely to run into across classical Arabic and its major regional dialects. Oral proverbs vary in exact wording across region, generation and household, so treat the Arabic text here as a well-known standard form rather than the only correct one. English equivalents are given only where a genuinely close proverb or idiom exists in English; many Arabic amthal simply don't have one, and this connector says so honestly instead of forcing a mismatched comparison. The dataset leans harder on classical/pan-Arab and Egyptian/Levantine dialect sayings, where documentation is most consistent, and carries a somewhat smaller set of Gulf and Maghrebi entries — chosen for confidence in their exact wording over breadth. The dataset is kept family-friendly on purpose. For a rare, hyper-local, or brand-new saying not covered here, ask a native speaker.

Tools

Lookup & Search

proverb_info — Look up one Arabic proverb: its Arabic text, transliteration, a literal English translation, its real figurative meaning, its region, and the closest English equivalent where one genuinely exists. Use for "what does 'al-sabru miftahu al-faraj' mean", "explain the proverb about the gazelle". Args: text.

proverb_search — Search across every proverb's Arabic text, transliteration, literal translation, meaning, English equivalent and themes for a keyword. Use for "find proverbs about patience", "any Egyptian saying about money". Args: query.

Browse

proverbs_by_theme — List every proverb tagged with one theme -- patience, wisdom, family, hospitality, time, friendship, money, work, speech, fate, food, or caution. Use for "show me Arabic proverbs about hospitality", "sayings about patience". Args: theme.

proverbs_by_region — List every proverb from one region -- pan-Arab/classical (Modern Standard Arabic, shared widely across the Arab world), Levantine, Egyptian, Gulf, or Maghrebi. Use for "Gulf proverbs", "Levantine sayings about family", "classical Arabic proverbs about wisdom". Args: region.

proverb_of_the_day — A deterministic "proverb of the day" -- the same Arabic proverb for everyone asking on a given calendar date -- with its Arabic text, transliteration, literal translation and meaning. Use for "proverb of the day", "teach me an Arabic saying for today".

random_proverb — A random Arabic proverb, optionally restricted to one theme. Use for "give me a random Arabic proverb", "surprise me with a saying about friendship". Args: theme.

Translate & Compare

english_equivalent — Given either an Arabic proverb or an English idiom/proverb, finds the closest match in the other language from this dataset, only when a genuinely close equivalent exists -- never a forced match -- together with a note on how close the match is (exact / close / loose). Use for "what's the English equivalent of 'the early bird catches the worm' in Arabic", "is there an Arabic saying like 'too many cooks spoil the broth'". Args: proverb.

explain_meaning — A fuller explanation of a proverb's figurative sense -- contrasting the literal, word-for-word translation with what it actually means -- plus the typical context in which it gets said. Use for "explain what the camel's crooked neck proverb really means and when people say it". Args: proverb.

Reference

proverb_glossary — A short glossary of ten terms about the Arabic proverb and oral-wisdom tradition: mathal, hikma, qawl ma'thur, mathal sha'bi, fusha, ammiyya/darija, kinaya, saj' (rhymed prose), Majma' al-Amthal (the classical al-Maydani compilation), and amthal al-'arab. Use for "what's the difference between a mathal and a hikma", "what does fusha mean", "what is Majma' al-Amthal". Args: term.

Conventions

• Read-only. Every tool reads public data or computes; nothing is written anywhere and nothing about the user is stored.
• Result envelope. ok: true with data, or ok: false with a structured error (bad_input, not_found, upstream_error). degraded lists optional sources that were unreachable.
• Rate limits. Free tier 60 tool calls/minute and 300/day per user (keyed on the user identifier supplied by the host agent, else client IP); Pro keys raise this. Over-limit calls return HTTP 429 with Retry-After. initialize and tools/list are never counted.

Support

agent@connectorbay.com · connectorbay.com/amthal/support

Amthal (Proverb) — Privacy Policy

Effective 24 September 2026. Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us"), Menlo Park, California.

What Amthal (Proverb) is. Amthal (Proverb) is a connector (an MCP server and REST API) that AI assistants and personal agents call on your behalf for a hand-curated reference of Arabic-language proverbs and sayings, spanning classical/MSA proverbs and regional-dialect sayings from the Levant, Egypt, the Gulf and the Maghreb: proverb lookups and search, theme and region browsing, an English-equivalent finder, a meaning explainer, a proverb of the day, and a small glossary. You interact with your assistant; the assistant sends us only the arguments needed for that one lookup.

What we receive. The arguments of each tool call — a proverb, a search keyword, a theme, a region, an English phrase, or a glossary term — the technical headers needed to serve the request (an IP address or a client identifier supplied by the assistant, and a Pro API key if you have one), and standard server logs.

Everything is answered from a bundled, hand-curated reference file and nothing is stored. No request is forwarded to any third party — there is no upstream call at all, live or otherwise — and no query is logged in request bodies, recorded, or used to train anything.

What we do not receive or store. We do not receive your conversation with the assistant or your name, and we do not build a profile from your queries: each request is answered independently and nothing carries over between requests. Rate-limit counters (a client identifier and timestamps) are held in memory for at most 24 hours. Hosting-provider access logs, which contain IP addresses and request paths but not request bodies, are retained for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

Sub-processors. None — the entire dataset is bundled with the server and answered locally. Hosting: Vercel (United States regions).

Legal bases and your rights. Our processing is necessary to provide the service you request through your assistant. Because we store no personal data beyond short-lived logs, requests to access, correct or delete personal data are usually satisfied automatically; you can still contact agent@connectorbay.com and we will respond within 30 days. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use your data to train models.

Children. Amthal (Proverb) is a general-audience service operated by the adult using the assistant. The dataset is kept family-friendly on purpose.

Changes. We will post changes here with a new effective date.

Amthal (Proverb) — Terms of Service

Effective 24 September 2026. These terms govern use of the Amthal (Proverb) connector ("the Service") operated by Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us").

1. The Service. Amthal (Proverb) returns a hand-curated reference of Arabic-language amthal (proverbs) and hikam (wisdom sayings), spanning classical/MSA proverbs and regional-dialect sayings from the Levant, Egypt, the Gulf and the Maghreb — Arabic text, transliteration, literal translation, meaning, English equivalents where genuine ones exist, theme and region browsing, and a glossary — from data hand-curated and verified at build time. It is accessed through an AI assistant or directly over MCP or HTTP.
2. Not a translation service, and not an academic corpus. Amthal (Proverb) is an independent reference tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by any linguistic institute, government body, or publisher. Oral proverbs vary in exact wording by region, generation and household; the Arabic text given here reflects a well-known standard form, not the only correct one. English equivalents are given only where a genuinely close match exists — many entries have none, and none is invented to fill the gap.
3. Acceptable use. Automated use within the published rate limits is welcome.
4. Availability. The Service is provided "as is" without warranty. We may change, limit or discontinue it at any time.
5. Data. Our Privacy Policy describes what we process. In short: your query is answered from a bundled reference file, and nothing is stored.
6. Pro keys. Optional Pro API keys are issued at our discretion, are personal to the holder and may be revoked for abuse.
7. Liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Unify Dynamics LLC is not liable for any loss arising from use of or reliance on the Service. Our total liability is limited to US $100.
8. Governing law. California law; venue in San Mateo County, California.
9. Contact. Unify Dynamics LLC · agent@connectorbay.com · https://connectorbay.com/amthal

Amthal (Proverb) support

Email agent@connectorbay.com. We answer within two business days.

• MCP endpoint: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Live status: https://amthal.connectorbay.com/health

When you report a problem, include the question you asked your agent, roughly when, and which agent you used (for example Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini). Never send us passwords, account numbers or ID numbers. Amthal (Proverb) never asks for them.