«اِلشُّعْلَهْ مَا تِنْطِفِيشْ إِلَّا عَلَى رَاسْ عَوِيلْ»

A person's good name and honored memory, built over a lifetime, are not lost by accident. What finally snuffs them out is a contemptible heir: a son or kinsman who is base, mean or feeble (not someone wailing), and whose ugly conduct undoes the respect the family once enjoyed.

The flame here is not an ordinary fire but a makeshift wick of twisted rag or cotton that smokes heavily, gives weak light and goes out quickly, unlike a proper lamp wick. Since spreading light stands for spreading praise, the saying concerns reputation, not literal fire: a fading flame pictures renown failing in unworthy hands.

Use it when an unworthy son or relative squanders the good name an elder or family built. It voices disappointment or reproach about inherited standing being lost through someone's shameful conduct.