«قُولِةْ هِش تِرَبِّي الْغِش»

The image comes from tending animals. 'Hish' is the sharp cry used to shoo away birds or drive beasts, and 'ghish' is a local name for a livestock sickness that can kill, not the similar-looking word for cheating. The saying claims that constantly startling an animal gradually breeds illness in it.

Transferred to people, it holds that fright is not harmless. Someone who is repeatedly scared, threatened, or kept on edge can be genuinely hurt by it. It warns against assuming that harsh shouting or intimidation leaves no lasting mark.

Use it to object to shouting at, startling, or intimidating someone, particularly when the scaring is repeated. It argues that keeping a person frightened does real harm. Much of its punch comes from the rhyme of 'hish' and 'ghish'.