«اِلْعَرُوسَهْ لِلْعَرِيسْ وِالْجَرْيْ لِلْمَتَاعِيسْ»

The proverb draws on a wedding. The couple takes home the actual prize of the celebration, while the luckless ones who rushed about arranging it end up with nothing but misery and disappointment. The effort belongs to one group and the reward to another.

Figuratively, it describes anyone who labors earnestly over a matter whose benefits will go entirely to someone else. Its tone is bitter rather than gentle, carrying resignation or mild mockery toward the person doing the toiling, whose work earns them no gain.

Use it wryly when someone exhausts themselves on an undertaking whose real payoff will land with another person. It suits commentary on thankless labor, whether the speaker is complaining about their own lot or teasing someone else for toiling on another's behalf.