«الطَّشَاشْ وَلَا الْعَمَى»

The saying weighs two bad conditions against each other and declares the milder one preferable. Hazy sight that falls just short of blindness is still a hardship, yet it keeps some ability that full blindness would take away entirely, so the speaker accepts the lesser trouble without pretending it is good.

In wider use, it voices a resigned kind of realism: when a perfect outcome is out of reach, a damaged or partial one should be welcomed over total loss. It can comfort someone facing setbacks or justify settling for an imperfect compromise.

Use it when someone faces a partial loss, such as a reduced salary instead of dismissal, or a damaged harvest instead of none. It suits consoling or pragmatic remarks once the worse alternative is in view. Because its imagery rests on vision impairment, avoid it where that comparison could offend.