«حَاجْةِ السِّتِّ فِي السَّندُوقْ، وِحَاجْةِ الْجَارْيَه فِي السُّوقْ»

The word for "thing" here means private matters or secrets, not a physical belonging. The mistress keeps hers locked away, unexposed. The bondwoman, a female slave, has hers spread through the marketplace, because her dignity was not thought worth protecting. The image draws on a hierarchy rooted in slavery, setting protected privacy against public exposure.

More broadly, the saying exposes unequal treatment: a woman of standing enjoys privacy while an enslaved woman's personal affairs are spread publicly. It can point to the unfairness of this difference in how people are treated, without proving that every speaker rejects the social hierarchy behind it.

Use it when someone points out that a powerful or well-connected person's faults stay hidden while an ordinary person's lapses become public gossip. It fits complaints about favoritism, unequal discretion, or double standards in how people are judged.