«عُمْرِ التَّشْفِيطْ مَا يِمْلَاشْ قِرَبْ»

Drawing water in small sips or trickles, a bit from one spot and a bit from another, will never fill waterskins. The image is of meager amounts taken up by hand or mouth, not of a mechanical siphon or pump. Such vessels are filled only from an abundant source, so piecemeal drawing leaves them empty however long one persists.

In wider use, the saying holds that small, scattered amounts gathered bit by bit are not worth the effort and cannot sustain real undertakings. It doubts that trickles add up to enough, and is not praise of thrift or patient saving. Getting a matter done calls for ample means from a substantial supply.

Said when someone hopes to cover a large need by collecting small, scattered bits from various places, to point out that such scraps will not meet it and that a plentiful source is needed instead.