«رَاحِتِ النَّاسْ وِفِضِلِ النِّسْنَاسْ»

The saying laments a falling-off in the quality of the people one lives among. It holds that the good and useful have gone away, while those who are base and contemptible, contemptuously labeled nisnas, are the ones still left in their place.

It serves as a sour verdict on the present measured against a better past. A speaker uses it to voice disappointment with current company or society, contrasting the departed worthy people with the lesser crowd that now remains.

Say it when complaining that admirable people are no longer around and lesser ones fill their place, as in a changed circle or community. Because it openly insults whoever remains, it can cause real offense; it is safer as general commentary than directed at listeners.