«عَلَى قَد زِيتُهْ خَايِلْ لُهْ»

The saying holds that effort should be proportioned to compensation. The image is of staging a shadow play, whose lamp burned a cotton wick soaked in oil: the show lasts only as long as the oil the patron supplies. Likewise, a worker or helper gives service in step with what the payer contributes, no more and no less.

In practice it can serve as frank advice to avoid overextending oneself for someone who pays little, or as a pointed remark that a meager reward has earned a correspondingly meager result. It frames the exchange as fair dealing rather than spite.

Use it to advise matching effort to what is actually being paid, or wryly to justify a modest job for a stingy patron. It suits informal talk about work, favors, and fees rather than formal writing.