«خَرَابْ يَا دُنْيَا عَمَارْ يَا مُخ»

The saying voices a narrow, self-protective outlook: the speaker's own survival is all that matters. Let the wider world crumble, so long as their own head, meaning their very self rather than just their wits, remains whole and unharmed. Personal safety becomes the only measure of whether things are well.

The two halves are built as a deliberate contrast, with ruin set against staying intact; the second key word is chosen largely to echo and oppose the first, and signals survival rather than literal building or prosperity. That balanced structure packs complete indifference to everything beyond oneself into a brief, rhythmic phrase.

Fits situations where someone shrugs off wider disaster as long as they personally come through unharmed, whether describing another person or voicing one's own indifference. Its tone is not fixed; it may be approving, ironic, or critical of selfishness, and it can easily sound callous.