«اِلْحَبْسْ حَبْسْ وَلَوْ فِي بُسْتَانْ»

Agreeable surroundings do not alter what confinement is. Someone shut away in a lovely, green spot remains shut away, and the beauty of the place offers little genuine ease to a person who is kept there.

The saying answers anyone who argues that a confined person ought to be content because the place is pleasant. It holds that the spirit does not settle merely because the setting is attractive, so comfort neither excuses nor disguises the confinement itself.

Say it to rebut the suggestion that a pleasant setting should leave someone at peace with being confined. It fits moments when a person's surroundings are praised while the plain fact that they are shut in is overlooked.