«يَا فَرْحَة مَا تَمِّتْ خَدْهَا الْغُرَابْ وِطَارْ»

The saying laments a happiness cut short. Someone obtains something they wanted and begins to delight in it, but the gain slips away so quickly that the joy never reaches its full course, leaving only the memory of a pleasure that was barely tasted.

The image is of a crow swooping down, seizing the prize, and flying off before its owner can react. The opening cry addresses the lost joy itself, stressing how sudden, complete, and irreversible the loss feels to the person left empty-handed.

Use it as a rueful exclamation when good fortune, such as a gain, a gift, or a hopeful turn, vanishes almost as soon as it arrived. It suits personal laments and sympathetic remarks about someone else's brief happiness, said with resignation rather than blame.