>

This was on Kudoz in the past
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/arabic_to_english/religion/2689090...

However, there may be some other possible approaches to it, one is sociocultutral colloquial
(1) Rot comes from within - دود الخل منه وفيه

(2) the second is ideological (religious)
"إنّ الله لا يغيّر ما بقومٍ حتى يغيّروا ما بأنفسهم وإذا أراد الله بقومٍ سوءاً فلا مردّ لهم من والٍ"
Pickthall: "Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him."
"إنما وليكم الله ورسوله والذين آمنوا الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويؤتون الزكاة وهم راكعون"
فإن كان ولاؤكم لغيرهم سلّط عليكم ظالميكم
"وكذلك نولّي بعض الظالمين بعضاً بما كانوا يكسِبون"
Pickthall: "Thus We let some of the wrong-doers have power over others because of what they are wont to earn".

(3) In the Lebanese sense, one socio-political applicable usage of the above is interpreted in:
People prolong their own ordeal because they keep voting for the same candidates. So, the problem is not in them, but in the people, repeating their own mistakes, enslaving themselves to a feudal sectarian system and sustaining it. ظلمتم أنفسكم بموالاتكم الظالمين المرّة تلو الأخرى بما اعتدتم عليه، فلا تلوموا إلا أنفسكم، كما تكونوا يولّى عليكم

That is, Overpowered by their own wonts.

The Ruler reflects the people who elect him/her

or

The President reflects the people from which he/she comes

This translation convey the meaning of the original. I heard it in a documentary recently.