«عَامِلْ فَارْ مِقِيلَطْ»

The saying pictures a mouse, already a small creature, showing off something called its qalīṭa, whose exact physical nature is uncertain, as though it made the mouse important. The comic image exposes pride built on something that has no real worth or dignity.

Applied to people, it targets someone who swells with self-importance over a trifle and wrongly believes it raises them in others' eyes. The listener is meant to see that the display is empty and rather ridiculous.

Used to mock someone who struts or boasts about a trivial possession, title, or trait, as if it lent them real standing. It is derisive, not neutral, and said of someone present it is likely to offend; it suits pointed, informal remarks about vanity.