if the mountain won't come to Muhammad

Etymology
An (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.

The earliest appearance of the phrase is from Chapter 12 of the of, 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 '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, 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——that has no reference to Muhammad. (An alternative version can be found on the Turkish Wiktionary.) It is known as one of the, or "common sayings", which exist in modern Turkish but are thought to have much older origins.

The saying is also used in Slavic cultures, as evidenced by the Russian phrase "Если гора не идет к магомеду, значит магомед идет к горе" (see Translations below).

Proverb

 * 1) If something one wishes to be done cannot be commanded done, one must find another way to achieve one's goal.

Translations

 * Arabic: اذا لم يأتيك ما تريد، فلتسعى أليه
 * Bulgarian: ако не можеш да занесеш планината при Мохамед, заведи Мохамед при планината
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 山不过来，我就过去
 * Czech:
 * Danish: hvis bjerget ikke vil komme til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til bjerget; når bjerget ikke vil komme til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til bjerget
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: se la monto ne venas al Mohamedo, Mohamedo devas iri al monto
 * Finnish: jos vuori ei tule Muhammedin luo
 * French:
 * Georgian: თუ მუჰამედი არ მიდის მთასთან მაშინ მთა მიდის მუჰამედთან
 * German: wenn der Berg nicht zum Propheten kommt, muss der Prophet wohl zum Berge kommen
 * Greek: όταν δεν πάει στον Μωάμεθ το βουνό, πάει στο βουνό ο Μωάμεθ
 * Hebrew: אם מוחמד לא יבוא אל ההר, יבוא ההר אל מוחמד
 * Hungarian:
 * Italian: se la montagna non va da Maometto, Maometto va alla montagna
 * Japanese:
 * Korean: 산이 ^마호멧에게 오지 않겠다면, ^마호멧이 산으로 가야만 한다;
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: når fjellet ikke kommer til Muhammed, må Muhammed komme til fjellet
 * Polish: nie chce góra przyjść do Mahometa, musi Mahomet przyjść do góry
 * Portuguese: se a montanha não vem a Maomé, Maomé vai à montanha
 * Romanian: dacă nu vine muntele la Mahomed, merge Mahomed la munte
 * Russian: е́сли гора́ не идёт к Магоме́ту, то Магоме́т идёт к горе́
 * Serbian: ако неће брег Мухамеду, хоће Мухамед брегу
 * Slovak: ak nepríde hora k Mohamedovi, príde Mohamed k hore
 * Spanish: si la montaña no viene a Mahoma
 * Swedish: om berget inte kan komma till Muhammed, får Muhammed komma till berget
 * Turkish: dağ Muhammet’e gelmezse, Muhammet dağa gider
 * Urdu:
 * Zazaki: ko nêro Mıhemedi rê se Mıhemed sı no koyi rê