«يَا قَنْدِيلِينْ وِشَمْعَةْ يَا فِي الضَّلْمَةْ جُمْعَهْ»

The saying pictures someone who insists on lighting two lamps and a candle or else sits in darkness for an entire week; the repeated يا frames this as an either/or choice. It mocks the stubborn, foolish person who would rather go without altogether than settle for a modest amount of something he cannot have in abundance.

A second reading targets the person with no sense of proportion, who blazes through resources at one moment and then clamps down hard at another, with no reason behind either. The Arabic sets شمعة against جمعة (here a whole week, not Friday), so the two halves end in a rhyme that sharpens the contrast.

Aimed critically at someone who rejects a modest share because it falls short of abundance, or whose spending lurches between lavishness and tightfistedness for no reason; context shows which reading a speaker intends. The tone is mocking and corrective, suited to remarks about a person's habits rather than praise.