«زَي طُرَبِ الْيَهُودْ بَيَاضْ عَلَى قِلِّةْ رَحْمَهْ»

The saying pictures tombs (طُرَب, standing for تُرَب, graves, not musical delight) that are neatly whitened outside while, in the speaker's sectarian view, the Jews buried beneath are denied God's mercy. This prejudiced image sets a bright surface against a bleak interior.

Applied to people or things, it condemns an attractive outward show that conceals inner ugliness, harshness, or corruption. It charges hypocrisy or deceptive beauty, though its force depends on a religious insult that should be recognized as historical prejudice, not endorsed.

Historically aimed at a person, place, or thing whose polished surface hides something rotten, such as a charming acquaintance with a cruel nature. Because its imagery rests on a sectarian slur against Jews, it belongs in discussion of historical prejudice, not neutral everyday speech.