«جَمَلْ مَا قَامْشْ بِحِمْلُهْ، قَالْ: اعْقِلُوهْ»

The picture is of a camel so weighed down that it cannot get to its feet, and of a bystander whose answer is to call for its leg to be tied. Hobbling exists to keep an animal from straying, yet here it is ordered for a creature that is already going nowhere.

Applied to people, the saying points at a restraint placed on someone already unable to move or act. It allows two readings: the measure is pointless because the person cannot get away anyway, or it is harsh because it adds a further constraint to someone already overwhelmed. Both convey an absurd response to helplessness.

Suited to remarking on a restriction, demand or precaution aimed at someone already exhausted, stuck or powerless, where the response seems absurd given their condition. The surrounding situation decides whether it mocks the measure as needless or protests it as an extra burden.