«صَامْ وِفِطِرْ عَلَى بَصَلَهْ»

The image is of a person who endures a long fast, then breaks it (fiṭir, colloquial for 'broke his fast') with a single onion, a meal far too meagre to satisfy hunger. The onion stands for anything cheap and unsatisfying, not for a literal food custom; all that self-denial earns something trivial.

Figuratively, the saying targets anyone who holds back from something for a long stretch and then finally settles for its poorest form. Variants that repeat the verb or use the present tense only stress how long the restraint lasted. It mocks restraint that ends in a shabby, letdown result.

Use it wryly about someone who held out for a long time, refusing options or waiting for something better, then accepted a poor choice, as with marriages, purchases, or jobs. Because it is pointed, saying it directly to someone can sound like a jab at their judgment.