When clouds form in the skies we know that rain will follow but we must not wait for it. Nothing will be achieved by attempting to interfere with the future before the time is ripe. Patience is needed.

The saying uses a natural analogy—clouds presaging rain—to argue that foreknowledge does not equal control. Even when signs point clearly toward an outcome, forcing events prematurely is portrayed as futile or counterproductive; effective action depends on timing. The emphasis on not “interfering with the future before the time is ripe” aligns with a broadly classical Chinese sensibility about acting in accordance with circumstances (shi) and allowing processes to unfold. The closing injunction, “Patience is needed,” frames patience not as passivity but as strategic restraint: waiting for conditions to mature so that effort can actually take effect.