The Vanquished Always Want To Imitate The Victor

This is because the soul always sees perfection in the person who is superior to it and to whom it is subservient. It considers him perfect, either because:

• its respect for him impresses it, or
• it erroneously assumes that its subservience was due to the victor’s perfection and not to the nature of the defeat
  • If that erroneous assumption fixes itself in the soul, then it becomes a firm belief.

The soul then adopts the victor’s manners and assimilates itself to him. It imitates him.

Or, the soul might think that the victor’s superiority is not the result of his group feeling or great fortitude, but of his customs and manners.

• This also would be an erroneous concept of superiority.
• Its consequence would also be imitation

This is similar to how children constantly imitate their father.

• They do that only because they see perfection in him.
• One may also compare how almost everywhere people are dominated (in the matter of fashion) by the dress of the militia and the government forces, because they are ruled by them.

This goes so far that a nation dominated by another, neighboring nation will show a great deal of assimilation and imitation.

At this time, this is the case in Spain.

• The Spaniards have assimilated themselves to the Galician nations in their dress, their emblems, and most of their customs and conditions.
• They even draw pictures on the walls of their buildings and houses.

The intelligent observer will see this as a sign of domination by others.

This is proven by the saying: “The common people follow the religion of the ruler”

• The ruler dominates those under him.
• His subjects imitate him, because they see perfection in him, exactly as children imitate their parents, or students their teachers.

23. A Subjugated Nation Will Quickly Perish

This is because apathy comes over people when they lose control of their own affairs.

• Through enslavement, this apathy becomes the instrument of others to make them dependent.
• Hope diminishes and weakens.

But propagation and an increase in civilization (population) takes place only as the result of:

• strong hope
• the energy that hope creates in the animal powers (of man).

Civilization decreases and business and other activities stop when:

• apathy kills the hope and the things it stimulates
• the group feeling has disappeared under the impact of defeat

The people become:

• the victims of anyone who tries to dominate them
• a prey to anyone who has the appetite

It makes no difference whether they have already reached the limit of their royal authority or not.

Man is a natural leader by being a representative of God on earth.

When a leader is deprived of his leadership and prevented from exercising all his powers, he becomes apathetic, even down to such matters as food and drink.

This is both in the human character and in beasts of prey.

They do not cohabit when they are in human captivity.

The group that has lost control of its own affairs thus continues to weaken and disintegrate until it perishes.

• Duration belongs to God alone.

This is shown by Persia.

• In the past, they filled the world with their great numbers.
• When their military force was annihilated in the days of the Arabs, they were still very numerous.

Sa’d (b. Abi Waqqas) counted the population beyond Ctesiphon to be 137,000 individuals, with 37,000 heads of families.

But when the Persians came under Arab rule, they were oppressed by force.

They lasted only a short while and were wiped out as if they had never existed.

This was not the result of some specific persecution or aggression perpetrated against them.

Islam is known for its justice.

The disintegration that befell the Persians is in human nature.

It happens when people lose control of their own affairs and become the instrument of someone else.

Therefore, the Negro nations are submissive to slavery because they have little human attributes.

• They are quite similar to those of dumb animals.

Or, there are those who hope to obtain high rank or get money or power by accepting slavery.

This was the case with:

• the Turks in the East
• the Galician infidels
• European Christians in Spain

Such people are customarily claimed by the dynasty for itself.

They are not ashamed to be slaves because they hope to be chosen for high position by the dynasty.