if the mountain won't come to Muhammad

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An ellipsis (anapodoton) of the apocryphal phrase "if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," coined in a story by Francis Bacon (1561–1626) Details The earliest appearance of the phrase is from Chapter 12 of the Essays of Francis Bacon, published in 1625: Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers, for the observers of his law. The people assembled; Mahomet called the hill to come to him, again and again; and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill. It was published in John Ray's 1670 book of English proverbs, The more complete reading of the essay makes it clear that Sir Francis Bacon meant the example to be disparaging, as he refers to “...mountebanks for the natural body, so are there mountebanks for the politic body..." in the context of his discussion “of boldness”, or what might be described in modern, political terms as brazening out a scandal or failure. Although the phrase is widely associated with Muhammad, the 6th-century prophet of Islam who lived in Arabia, there is no written or oral tradition tracing it back to him. There is, however, a phrase in Turkish—dağ sana gelmezse, sen dağa gideceksin... (“if the mountain won't come to you, you must go to the mountain”)—that has no reference to Muhammad. (An alternative version can be found on the Turkish Wiktionary.) It is known as one of the atasözleri, or "common sayings", which exist in modern Turkish but are thought to have much older origins.

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: ако не можеш да занесеш планината при Мохамед, заведи Мохамед при планината (ako ne možeš da zaneseš planinata pri Mohamed, zavedi Mohamed pri planinata) — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Chinese Mandarin: 山不過來,我就過去 /山不过来 — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Chinese Mandarin: 我就过去 (shān bù guò lái, wǒ jiù guò qù) — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Czech: když nejde hora k Mohamedovi, musí Mohamed k hoře — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Danish: hvis bjerget ikke vil komme til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til bjerget — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Danish: når bjerget ikke vil komme til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til bjerget — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Dutch: als Mohammed niet naar de berg komt, moet de berg maar naar Mohammed — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Esperanto: se la monto ne venas al Mohamedo, Mohamedo devas iri al monto — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Finnish: jos vuori ei tule Muhammedin luo — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• French: si la montagne ne va pas à toi, va à la montagne — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Georgian: თუ მუჰამედი არ მიდის მთასთან მაშინ მთა მიდის მუჰამედთან (tu muhamedi ar midis mtastan mašin mta midis muhamedtan) — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• German: wenn der Berg nicht zum Propheten kommt, muss der Prophet wohl zum Berge kommen — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Greek: όταν δεν πάει στον Μωάμεθ το βουνό, πάει στο βουνό ο Μωάμεθ (ótan den páei ston Moámeth to vounó, páei sto vounó o Moámeth) — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Hebrew: אם מוחמד לא יבוא אל ההר, יבוא ההר אל מוחמד — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Hungarian: ha a hegy nem megy Mohamedhez, Mohamed megy a hegyhez — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Italian: se la montagna non va da Maometto, Maometto va alla montagna — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Norwegian Bokmål: når fjellet ikke kommer til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til fjellet — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Polish: nie chce góra przyjść do Mahometa, musi Mahomet przyjść do góry — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Portuguese: se a montanha não vem a Maomé, Maomé vai à montanha — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Romanian: dacă nu vine muntele la Mahomed, merge Mahomed la munte — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Russian: е́сли гора́ не идёт к Магоме́ту, то Магоме́т идёт к горе́ (jésli gorá ne idjót k Magométu, to Magomét idjót k goré) — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Serbo-Croatian: ако неће брег Мухамеду, хоће Мухамед брегу — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Slovak: ak nepríde hora k Mohamedovi, príde Mohamed k hore — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Spanish: si la montaña no viene a Mahoma — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Spanish: Mahoma va a la montaña — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Swedish: om berget inte kan komma till Muhammed, får Muhammed komma till berget — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Turkish: dağ Muhammet’e gelmezse, Muhammet dağa gider — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Vietnamese: trời không chịu đất, đất phải chịu trời — if one cannot get something done by commanding it
• Zazaki: ko nêro Mıhemedi rê se Mıhemed sı no koyi rê — if one cannot get something done by commanding it