«مَا شِلْتِكْ يَا دِمْعِتِي إِلَّا لشِدِّتِي»

The speaker addresses their own tear as though it were a companion kept in reserve for a bad day. When trouble arrives and no helper can be found, weeping is the one relief still available, and the tear is called upon to come to the speaker's aid.

More broadly, the saying describes someone who has run out of other means and whose remaining recourse is to cry. Tears are pictured as something set aside for exactly this hour, bringing a measure of release when every other source of support has failed.

Suited to moments when someone in trouble finds no one to turn to and gives way to tears. It can be said sorrowfully of oneself, or of another person who has been left with weeping as their only comfort.