More foolish than one who licks water, one who butts his head against a rock أحمق من لاعق الماء، ومن ناطح الصخر، ومن لاطم

أحمق من لاعق الماء، ومن ناطح الصخر، ومن لاطم
أحمق من لاعق الماء، ومن ناطح الصخر، ومن لاطم الإشفى بخده ومن الممتخط بكوعه
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More foolish than one who licks water, one who butts his head against a rock, and one who slaps his cheek.
More foolish than one who licks water, one who butts his head against a rock, one who slaps his cheek against a spear, and one who blows his nose with his elbow.
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المثل «أحمق من لاعق الماء، ومن ناطح الصخر، ومن لاطم الإشفى بخده، ومن الممتخط بكوعه» يجمع عدة صور للمبالغة في الحمق وسوء التقدير؛ فكل واحد منها يفعل شيئًا عبثيًا أو يؤذي نفسه بفعله.
لا يوجد مثل إنجليزي واحد يجمع الصور الأربع، لكن توجد مقابلات قوية في الإنجليزية:
التعبير العربيأقرب مقابل إنجليزيأحمق من لاعق الماء Like trying to lick water. / A fool's errand.
أحمق من ناطح الصخر      To bang one's head against a brick wall. ⭐
أحمق من لاطم الإشفى بخده    To cut off one's nose to spite one's face. ⭐
أحمق من الممتخط بكوعه      To make a mess of things. / To make a fool of oneself   .
وأقرب تعبير جامع
إذا أردنا أن نصف شخصًا يتصرف بحماقة ويجلب الضرر على نفسه بفعله، فإن الإنجليزية تقول:
He’s his own worst enemy. ⭐⭐⭐
هو ألدّ أعداء نفسه.
وهذا قريب جدًا من روح المثل، ولا سيما «لاطم الإشفى بخده»؛ فـ الإشفى هو المِخْرَز أو الأداة الحادة، ومن يضرب خده بها إنما يؤذي نفسه بيده.
ومن التعبيرات القريبة أيضًا:
He’s asking for trouble.
إنه يستجلب المتاعب لنفسه.
He’s only hurting himself.
إنما يضر نفسه.
He’s banging his head against a brick wall.
يضرب رأسه في جدار من الطوب — أي يصر على أمر عبثي لا جدوى منه.
وأفضل مقابل إنجليزي للمثل ككل:
He’s his own worst enemy.
أما إذا أردت الاحتفاظ بفكرة الحمق الشديد تحديدًا:
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The proverb “More foolish than one who licks water, one who butts his head against a rock, one who slaps his cheek against a stick, and one who blows his nose with his elbow” encompasses several images of extreme foolishness and poor judgment; each one represents doing something pointless or harming oneself.
There isn't a single English proverb that encompasses all four images, but there are strong equivalents in English:
The closest Arabic equivalent to the English equivalent:
More foolish than one who licks water: Like trying to lick water. / A fool's errand.
More foolish than one who butts his head against a rock: To bang one's head against a brick wall.
More foolish than one who slaps his cheek against a stick: To cut off one's nose to spite one's face.
More foolish than one who blows his nose with his elbow: To make a mess of things. / To make a fool of oneself.
And the closest comprehensive expression:
If we want to describe someone who acts foolishly and harms himself, the English expression is:
He’s his own worst enemy. ⭐⭐⭐
He is his own worst enemy.
This is very close to the spirit of the proverb, especially "slapping his cheek with an awl." The awl is a sharp instrument, and whoever strikes their cheek with it is only hurting themselves.
Other related expressions include:
He's asking for trouble.
He's only hurting himself.
He's banging his head against a brick wall.
He's banging his head against a brick wall—meaning he's persisting in something pointless and futile.
The best English equivalent for the proverb as a whole is:
He's his own worst enemy.
If you want to focus specifically on the idea of ​​extreme foolishness:

God strike him with the third of the three stones رماه الله بثالثة الأثافي

They said: It is a piece of rock placed next to two other stones, upon which the cooking pot rests. This is said of someone who inflicts a great calamity, and also of someone who leaves no evil untouched, because the three stones of the three stones are each the size of a person's head. So, if he strikes him with the third, he has reached the end. This is what al-Azhari said. Al-Badi' al-Hamadhani said: "I have a body like one of the three stones... and a liver like the third of the three stones."
He means the piece of rock.

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 The closest English equivalent to this proverb is:
The last straw.
Meaning: The final, devastating blow.
Another expression very close to conveying the meaning of a great calamity is:
A crushing blow.
Or:
Hit with the worst calamity.
Because the phrase "the third of the three stones" signifies the ultimate in severity and hardship, there is also:
When it rains, it pours.
Meaning: When misfortunes come, they come all at once.
It can also be expressed as:
The final and greatest disaster.
This is closer to the original meaning of the Arabic proverb.

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قالوا: هي القطعة من الجبل يوضع إلى جنبها حجران وينصب عليها القدر.يضرب لمن رمى بداهية عظيمة، ويضرب لمن لا يبقى من الشر شيئا، لأن الأثفية ثلاثة أحجار كل حجر مثل رأس الإنسان، فإذا رماه بالثالثة فقد بلغ النهاية، كذا قاله الأزهري، قال البديع الهمذاني:
ولي جسم كواحدة المثاني ... له كبد كثالثة الأثافي.
يريد القطعة من الجبل