«اِلْفَقِيرْ صِيفْةِ الْغَنِي»

The saying claims that the poor serve as the resource from which the rich draw their gains. The image of صيفة is the summer trip out to farms and fields to collect produce here and there, so the poor become the ground the wealthy glean, piece by piece, wealth gathered bit by bit from many sources.

Its thrust is a critique of how fortune accumulates: prosperity is not pictured as earned in isolation but extracted from those with least. It echoes a related idea that the rich take from the poverty of others and pile it onto their own abundance.

Said with bitterness or irony when someone notices the wealthy growing wealthier through dealings with those who have little, such as lending, low wages, or hard bargaining. It is a sour observation, not advice, so quoting it approvingly can sound like endorsing exploitation of the poor.