«زَيِّ القُط يِسَبَّحْ وِيِسْرَقْ»

The saying exposes people who display constant devotion, reciting and praising God at every turn, while quietly helping themselves to other people's money or property. The outward piety works as cover for dishonest gain.

Its force comes from yoking two actions that ought to be incompatible: the same creature is said to glorify God and to steal, side by side. Visible devotion, the proverb insists, is no proof of honest dealing. Its target is hypocrisy, not religious devotion itself.

Apply it to someone who keeps up a show of prayer or pious recitation while cheating or taking what belongs to others. The cat comparison is belittling, so it suits pointed accusations of hypocrisy; aimed at someone sincerely devout, it would be a serious insult.