«دِمَاغْ بَلَا عَقْلْ قَرْعَهْ بِجْدِيدْ أَخْيَرْ مِنْهَا»

The saying declares that a brain lacking reason is worth less than a gourd. The gourd may be one bought for a trifling coin or simply a fresh one. On either reading, a head without sense ranks beneath a common vegetable.

Its point is that a head is valued for the reasoning it holds. Where that reasoning is absent, the head counts for less than an ordinary gourd, so the saying serves as a sharp dismissal of someone judged to be foolish.

Suited to dismissing a person whose words or actions show a lack of sense, whether said to them directly or about them. Because it openly belittles someone's intelligence, it works as a pointed insult rather than gentle criticism and can give real offence.