Ibn Khaldun 1332 – 1406
Ibn Khaldun was a North African Arab historian and philosopher, born in Tunis to a family of Andalusian scholars. His Muqaddimah, the prolegomenon to a vast universal history, lays the foundation for what he called the science of human social organization, anticipating much of modern sociology, historiography, and political economy. He developed the concept of asabiyyah, or social cohesion, as the engine of dynastic rise and fall, and offered the first systematic theory of the cyclical character of civilizations. Ibn Khaldun spent his later years as a chief judge in Cairo and famously met Tamerlane outside Damascus.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Tunisian
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Islamic, Medieval
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Ibn Khaldun:
“The vanquished always want to imitate the victor in his distinctive marks, his dress, his occupation, and all his other conditions and customs.”
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Attributed to Ibn Khaldun:
“Civilization both begins and ends with desert living.”
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Attributed to Ibn Khaldun:
“When civilization reaches the limit of luxury and ease, it begins to decay.”
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Attributed to Ibn Khaldun:
“Differences of conditions among people are the result of the different ways in which they make their living.”
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Attributed to Ibn Khaldun:
“History is a science, and its subject is the human social organization.”