«صَاحِبْ بَالِينْ كَدَّابْ»

The saying denies that one person can genuinely house two inner selves. Whoever is described as having two 'bals' is called a liar, a word that can extend beyond a spoken lie to general falseness or insincerity: the doubling itself counts as evidence, because a single person is held to possess only one center of thought and feeling.

The Arabic 'bal' spans mind, heart, attention and inner concern, so two readings remain open. Taking it as mind or attention, the target is someone claiming to be wholly given to two things at once. Taking it as heart or inner disposition, the target is someone who shows two faces, moving the saying toward a charge of insincerity.

Fits a moment when someone presents himself as holding two inner commitments, minds or loyalties at the same time; the saying labels that doubling as false. Which sense of 'bal' a speaker intends determines whether it targets divided attention or a two-faced disposition.