«زَيِّ هْزَارِ الْحِمِيرْ كُلُّهْ عَضِّ وْرَفْصْ»

The image is of donkeys fooling around together. Their play looks no different from a fight, because all they do is nip and kick each other. Their amusement and their aggression take the same physical form.

Applied to people, the saying targets someone coarse by nature whose jesting carries the same roughness as the rest of their conduct. When such a person tries to be playful, the result still bruises, because their harsh temperament shapes even their humor.

Apply it to someone whose fun turns rough, such as stinging teasing or play that becomes shoving, when this reflects general harshness rather than a single lapse. Because it compares the person to donkeys, saying it directly to them can sound insulting.