«اِلْغَرْقَانْ يِتْلَقَّفْ عَلَى دِيسَهْ»

A person in mortal danger will seize whatever lies within reach, even a frail stalk that cannot possibly hold them up. Panic and need override any judgment about whether the support is real, so the grasping itself becomes the point.

Applied to people, the saying describes someone driven by dire circumstances to rely on a feeble hope, a useless person, or a poor solution. They cling to it not because it works but because necessity leaves them nothing else.

Use it when someone in serious trouble pins their hopes on a flimsy remedy, weak excuse, or unreliable helper because nothing better is available. It does not praise resourcefulness; what is grasped cannot actually rescue anyone. It suits sympathetic or wry comment on desperation rather than open ridicule.