«عَنْدِ الْعَطَا أَحْبَابْ وِعَنْدِ الطَّلَبْ أَعْدَاءْ»

The saying exposes self-serving affection. While someone is handing out help, lending money or granting requests, the recipients treat that person as a dear friend. The moment the same person asks for a debt to be settled or for what rightfully belongs to them, the warmth disappears and resentment takes its place.

Its lesson concerns how fragile bonds built purely on benefit can be. Generosity earns easy praise, but a request for repayment tests whether the fondness was ever genuine. The proverb voices the bitterness of someone who learns that kindness bought only passing goodwill, and that a creditor is rarely loved.

Said by a lender or helper, often ruefully, when someone who gladly accepted money, goods or favors grows cold or hostile once asked to repay or return the kindness. It can also serve as a general warning about friendships that rest only on what one party receives.