«عَبْدْ مَا هُو لَكْ حُر مِثْلَكْ»

Rooted in the historical institution of slavery, the saying limits a person's authority over an enslaved individual to their own claim of ownership. Someone enslaved by another master is not subject to the listener's commands and, in that limited relationship, is treated as free. It does not assert that the enslaved person is legally free.

The proverb is a check on overreach. It tells the listener not to give orders, forbid things, or expect obedience from people outside their own charge, since such people may rightly ignore those demands, and pressing them only shows a misplaced sense of control.

Use it when someone tries to command a person over whom they have no authority. In its historical setting, it specifically denies one slaveholder the right to order someone else's enslaved person; it reflects the institution of slavery rather than an assertion of universal legal freedom.