Subhanallah. This reminds me of something shaykh hamza said in b'ham some years ago. He said many years ago(i think centuries) a man walked into a masjid.he was an aalim.But he had an ijtihaadi type mentality. So he started saying...imaam malik said.. this/. but he made an error.. and maalik said this but he made an error.. and maalik said such and such and he made an error. So another big aalim was present. And he was asked about this And he said the example of this man is like that of a man who goes and stands in front of the sea and he urinates making A PUddle. and he says...pointing to his puddle -there's one ocean and theres my ocean
our master sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam said speak good or remain silent. the couplet is good; the timing excellent
:s1: beautiful couplet. I think in this context zarf may be best translated as 'capacity'. The silence of the ocean says to the roaring river: The greater one's capacity, the more quiet one is!
kah raha hai shor e dariya se samundar ka sukuut jis ka jitna zarf hai utna hi woh khamosh hai the quiet ocean tells the roaring river, loftier the character, greater the silence. the calmness of ocean tells the roaring of the river, one's silence is as great as one's character [zarf is not an easy to translate; character means many things among which is composition, trait, quality and reputation]