The arrow, the word and the opportunity

There is a famous quote, people often attribute it to Hz Ali (RA). 

It Goes something like this, 

“An arrow released from the bow, a word spoken out of mouth and an opportunity that is missed, can never come back”. 

I find it so fascinating, We have a translation of this quote as a proverb in Urdu. It goes something like this. 

“تیر کماں سے اور بات زبان سے نکل جائے تو واپس نہیں آتی۔”

Which is translated as “two things never come back, an arrow which left the bow and a word which left the tongue” 

I find it so fascinating, this comparison of an arrow with words feels so much right. Sometimes we don’t realise but our words can be as painful as an arrow for others. 

and If we are careless we can hurt them as deeply or more with our words as we can hurt them by accidentally shooting them with an arrow. 

and at the end all that is left is regret, regret that we were not careful enough and it hurt them. 

I often think about all the stupid and hurtful things I said to people. and just like an arrow that is shot, I can not take them back. I can not take them back or the pain that I have caused them. All I can do is say that I am sorry, I do realise my mistake and I will be more careful in the future. 

I also think, why was the missed opportunity not included in the Urdu proverb? is it because its not impossible to retake a missed opportunity? Maybe, It is true that a missed opportunity can be taken back one way or the other. Maybe its not physically impossible to do that. 

Or maybe the quote got mistranslated and only the first two parts reached. 

Wallah Alam