«اِلْمُخُوزَقْ يِشْتِمِ السُّلْطَانْ»

The image is graphic: it refers to a person being executed by impalement, a brutal punishment. Facing certain death, such a person is beyond the reach of any further threat, so the usual fear that keeps tongues in check no longer applies. Even a powerful ruler loses leverage over someone who has already received the worst punishment.

More broadly, the saying observes that hopelessness breeds fearlessness. When people believe nothing worse can happen to them, they stop weighing consequences and may speak harshly or openly defy those above them. It describes this pattern rather than praising insults against authority.

Said when someone who has already lost everything speaks or acts with startling boldness, as in a dismissed worker berating the boss or a doomed defendant mocking the court. It explains their recklessness rather than endorsing it.