Question

آب از سرچشمه گل آلود است = کار از بالا خراب است، عیب از ریشه ی کار است

و یا:

خانه از پای بست ویران است (خواجه در بند نقش ایوان است)

(اصطلاح)

Answer 1

Also"

A fish rots from the head down

Comments

A fish rots from the head down

When an organization or state fails, it is the leadership that is the root cause.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fish-rot-from-the-head-down.html

The phrase, “The fish rots from the head,” is sometimes used to express the idea that all problems in a company or country can be traced back to its leadership. The phrase suggests that corruption enters a country through its leaders, filters down to its citizens and, in some classic tragedies, even affects the environment

http://www.brainstormwarning.org/2008/10/30/the-fish-rots-from-the-head

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Answer 2

1. It's rotten to the core.

Ex. The ​whole ​legal ​system is rotten to the ​core.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/be-rotten-to-the-core

2.The crux of the matter is that  managers are corrupts.”

https://www.espressoenglish.net/10-english-idioms-for-problems-difficulties/

 

Comments

Thank you.

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My pleasure...