— Ibn KhaldunCommonly cited paraphrase of a principle stated in the Muqaddimah (Introduction, 1377); English wording approximate, not a line-by-line translation
Commentary
This statement, drawn from the Muqaddimah, is often cited as a summary of Ibn Khaldun's view that political and economic decline follow from the abuse of authority. The principle appears in his discussion of how rulers who exact unjust levies and confiscate property undermine the productive base of a city, a theme he develops at length in his chapters on urbanism and state power. Franz Rosenthal, whose complete English translation of the Muqaddimah (1958) remains the standard reference, renders the underlying argument with care, and his notes show how closely Ibn Khaldun linked justice to the sustainability of dynastic rule. Muhsin Mahdi, in Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy of History (1957), argues that such claims rest on a theory of social cohesion rather than on moral exhortation alone. Aziz al-Azmeh, in his essay Ibn Khaldun: An Essay in Reinterpretation (1982), cautions readers against treating the Muqaddimah as a simple moral tract, since its analysis of oppression is embedded in an account of economic incentives. Because the English wording given here is an approximation, it should not be cited as a direct translation. The idea is securely attributable to the Muqaddimah, and Rosenthal's translation is the appropriate source for the exact phrasing.
Commentary
This statement, drawn from the Muqaddimah, is often cited as a summary of Ibn Khaldun's view that political and economic decline follow from the abuse of authority. The principle appears in his discussion of how rulers who exact unjust levies and confiscate property undermine the productive base of a city, a theme he develops at length in his chapters on urbanism and state power. Franz Rosenthal, whose complete English translation of the Muqaddimah (1958) remains the standard reference, renders the underlying argument with care, and his notes show how closely Ibn Khaldun linked justice to the sustainability of dynastic rule. Muhsin Mahdi, in Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy of History (1957), argues that such claims rest on a theory of social cohesion rather than on moral exhortation alone. Aziz al-Azmeh, in his essay Ibn Khaldun: An Essay in Reinterpretation (1982), cautions readers against treating the Muqaddimah as a simple moral tract, since its analysis of oppression is embedded in an account of economic incentives. Because the English wording given here is an approximation, it should not be cited as a direct translation. The idea is securely attributable to the Muqaddimah, and Rosenthal's translation is the appropriate source for the exact phrasing.