«زَيِّ الْخَمَلْ يِرْكَبِ الْعَيَّانْ»

The saying draws on a familiar farmyard image: a parasite that infests poultry and livestock and clings most heavily to a creature that is already ailing, draining it further. The sick host cannot shake the pests off, so its weakness invites still more harm.

Applied to people, it condemns anyone who preys on the vulnerable precisely because they are vulnerable. The aggressor shows no courage; they pick a target too weak to push back and add to that person's misfortune, much as vermin settle on an invalid.

Use this saying to criticize someone who singles out a weak, ill, or vulnerable person for mistreatment, or who piles further burdens on them, because that person cannot resist. It works as a disapproving comment on bullying or opportunistic aggression.