«اِلصَّاحِبْ عِلَّهْ»

The saying warns that a close companion can turn into a lingering affliction. Here the key word is read as an ailment rather than a cause or pretext: because the friend treats the bond as a favor he grants, you end up bearing burdens from him you would never accept from anyone else.

Its point is that intimacy creates obligation, and obligation can be exploited. Loyalty keeps a person from pushing back, so the strain stays like a chronic complaint. The proverb voices resigned frustration with a drawback inside a close bond; it does not condemn friendship or advise avoiding friends.

Fits moments when someone is tolerating a friend's demands, presumption, or bad behavior only because of their closeness, for example when venting wryly about a companion who takes liberties no stranger could get away with.