«زَي عَذَابِ الزِّيتْ فِي الْقَنْدِيلْ تَحْتُهْ مَيَّهْ وِفُوقُهْ نَارْ»

The saying pictures a traditional lamp in which oil floats on water while the wick burns at its surface, so the oil is caught between water below and flame above. It describes a person surrounded by misfortune with no safe direction left, where escaping one threat means meeting the other: drowning or burning alike.

The expression emphasizes the sufferer's inner distress as well as the surrounding dangers. With water below and flame above, the lamp oil has no safe direction to escape; the image conveys relentless pressure from troubles that seem to leave no way out.

Use it sympathetically of someone surrounded by severe troubles, with no clear escape from one without falling into another. The lamp's water and flame evoke being trapped between misfortunes and enduring great anguish; it is not a comparison for a minor inconvenience.