«صِرْصَارِ الشِّشْمَهْ وِالْقُبْقَابْ عَمَلُوا عَلِينَا اصْحَابْ»

The saying mocks an alliance between two contemptible parties. A cricket that lives in the privy and a wooden clog worn in the washroom are both lowly, dirty things, and picturing them as companions conspiring together turns any partnership of the base into an object of ridicule. A variant names a broom instead of the cricket.

Its point is that such pairs unite chiefly to injure or spite someone of greater dignity. The complaint carries indignation at being targeted and a sneer at the attackers, implying their cooperation reflects shared baseness rather than merit. The end rhyme of قبقاب with اصحاب gives the jab its punch.

Said with scorn when two people of little worth or standing join forces to vex, undermine, or humiliate someone more respectable. The speaker usually counts themselves as the target; the deliberately low latrine imagery makes it openly insulting when aimed at real people.