Over 20 Igbo Proverbs on “Uwa”—the World

Nov 30

Please note: Igbo (written) language is rich in diacritical marks and accents that convey specific meanings and nuances. However, the Igbo texts highlighted in this post do not include such diacritical marks. It is important to note that the absence of these marks may affect the proper interpretation of the texts (for those literate in Igbo langugage).

Achukata nwata achuba ya na uwa oma: Chasing or pursuing a child maliciously may make him or her run into a world of good fortune.
Akwa uwa anaghi eru mmuo: The crying of the world does not reach the spirit world.
Anyi bialu igba mbo na uwa: We are here to live out our lives in the most productive ways as possible.
Ebe ihe mere uwa wu n’ukwu ukpaka: All the world's ordeal began at an oil bean tree.
Enu uwa bu olili, onye nosia onaba: The world is a grand vacation experience, after enjoying it, we return home.
Egwu uwa wu egwu okoso: The universe moves in the same way as the Okoso cosmological game.
O wu oku ite Chukwu shiwere na mbara igwe ka ihe ji di, o wu ya du uwa eje: Light as we know it is a radiation from the divine boiling pot set in the sky by the supreme spirit; it is this light that guides all created beings.
Uwa aburo b’anyi: The world is not our home.
Uwa bu afia, onye zusia onakwulu chi: The cosmos is a grand market, after trading one returns to god.
Uwa anyi bulu uno uzu aka, anyi bu mmadu abulu umu odinaka uzu: If our universe is the first and original mystic furnace, then we human beings are inheritors of the mystic smithing hand of creativity.
Uwa anyi bu uwa alahusia eteta: This our world is a temporal zone of reality, much akin to a sleep experience, from which one eventually awakens onto a higher and greater reality.
Uwa bu egwu, onye o daalu o gbaba: The world is a moving musical cavalcade, if the tunes come your way, you dance along.
Uwa gbajulu agbuju, dolu adolu ka igwe: The universe is highly teeming with activity/dense with energy and firm in its place like iron.
Uwa bu igwe/Obodo bu igwe: The universe is densely spirited as iron/the world is as tough as iron.
Uwa bu ijele mmonwu, akwuro ofu ebe enene ya: The world is a grand masquerade, you can’t appreciate its entirety from a single view or fixed point.
Uwa bu ogodo eze enu wa n’ukwu, okike n’ine no nime ya: The world is a colossal toga on the waist of the Supreme Divinity who resides high up, all created beings are bound within it.
Uwa bu ntiko-ntiko na obi chukwu walu awa: Life is a gradual and delicate affair as a result of the primordial shattering of the first world.
Uwa na-eme ntughari: The world revolves. Nothing is permanent.
Uwa na-ehughali/erughali ehughali/erughali: The world is in constant changes.
Uwa na aga na mgbawata-mgbawata: The universe experiences ever-arising and ever-diminishing cyclic phases.
Uwa na uru ya n’ine bu atutu olisa: The universe and all its manifested aspects are the result of divine thought or mind.
Uwa na uzu ana eme: The universe is an endlessly active furnace.
Uwa wu aridachaa agbagowe kwa, eto juo, eke waa: Existence is a process of descending to rise again continuously; when we reach the bream of growth, we divide again.
Uwa wu o gaziere onye orie: The blessed enjoys the world in its fullness.