«سِيرْ يَا جَمَّالْ وِحَادِيهَا إِلَّا جَرْيِ الصِّبَا رَاحْ فِيهَا»

The speaker urges a camel driver to keep moving but to handle the animal gently, because the exertion of the owner's younger years went into obtaining her. Here إلا carries the sense of 'because' rather than 'except', so the closing clause gives the reason for the care.

The camel stands for any treasured thing earned through long labor, so the saying reaches well beyond animals or travel. It marks out what would rarely be replaced if lost, counsels protective attention toward it, and warns that carelessness squanders a lifetime's effort.

Say it to someone entrusted with, or careless about, something that cost years of effort to acquire, such as savings, a house, or a long-built relationship, as a reminder that its loss could not easily be made good.