«يَا وَاخِدِ الصُّغَيَّرْ يَا حَرَامِي السُّوقْ»

The saying celebrates the shrewdness of buying young. A young animal costs little at market, yet its best years are still ahead, while an older animal is already past its peak. The buyer who picks the young one pays a small price for what is still to come, so the deal feels almost like theft.

The accusation of stealing is figurative: it is a way of saying the buyer came away with far more than was paid. Although the image comes from livestock, not children or people, the same reasoning can apply to other goods, where choosing the young or small one over the mature one counts as the winning purchase.

Addressed to a buyer who has chosen the younger, smaller animal or item over a mature one, the saying casts that choice as a bargain so lopsided that the buyer seems to have robbed the market itself.