«اِلْغَرَضْ مَرَضْ»

The saying treats a hidden personal aim as an inner affliction. The key word can mean purpose or interest in general, but here it leans toward a self-serving aim. Like an illness, it bends a person's judgment and conduct. It explains why someone might do something unseemly or support an undeserving person: a private interest is quietly steering them.

The Arabic pairs two rhyming words, gharad and marad, giving the line a compact ring. Its force lies in diagnosis: it locates the cause of puzzling or improper behavior inside the person, picturing the private aim as something that takes hold of them the way a sickness does.

Say it when someone's odd choice, such as backing an unworthy person or doing something improper, seems driven by a private agenda. It works as a knowing remark about hidden interests rather than a formal accusation.