You can still eat bread even if you have no teeth;
the real disaster is when there is no bread at all.
Explanation: The couplet contrasts a minor lack (teeth) with the true catastrophe: having nothing to eat. It points to poverty and scarcity as the deeper misfortune.
Original · Persian
شمارهٔ ۱۶
توان نان خورد اگر دندان نباشد
مصیبت آن بود که نان نباشد