Unlimited-term conscription made service effectively lifelong for Egyptian peasants.

Evidence

It is natural for any sane person to resist conscription, since conscription and captivity are [practically] the same. No conscript would ever have the hope of saying “I will be conscripted for a fixed period, then I will be discharged and live the remaining years of my life [outside the army].” Men have the right to think likewise since we do not discharge men unless they receive serious wounds in their hands, legs, eyes or heads; that is, they are not discharged unless they are good neither for the army nor [any other] service. This is why we face resistance in conscripting them. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1357