if the mountain will not come to Mohammed...
if the mountain will not come to Mohammed...
When you can’t get your own way, bow to the inevitable. The complete expression is, “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.” This expression, with the spelling Mahomet (a slightly different transliteration from Arabic), is based on the story that Mohammed once asked for miraculous proof of his teachings and ordered Mount Safa to come to him. When the mountain did not move, he said, “God is merciful. Had it obeyed my words it would have fallen on us to our destruction.” Sir Francis Bacon retold the story, saying, “If the Hil will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the Hil” (in Of Boldnesse, 1597). It was repeated in John Ray’s English Proverbs (1678) and numerous sources thereafter, including Shaw’s play, The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906).
See also: come, if, mountain, not, will
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- the pits, (it's)
- the suspense is killing me
- tie (something) up in a bow
- bow out of the running
- pitchcharacter
- pussycat
- pussycat bow
- pussy bow
- the feeling is mutual
- bow to demands