When incentive to acquire and obtain property is gone, people no longer make efforts to acquire any... Those who infringe upon property rights commit an injustice... If this occurs repeatedly, all incentives to cultural enterprise are destroyed and they cease utterly to make an effort. This leads to destruction and ruin of civilization.

The sciences of only one nation, the Greeks, have come down to us, because they were translated through Al-Ma'mun's efforts. He was successful in this direction because he had many translators at his disposal and spent much money in this connection.

Eventually, Aristotle appeared among the Greeks. He improved the methods of logic and systematized its problems and details. He assigned to logic its proper place as the first philosophical discipline and the introduction to philosophy. Therefore he is called the First Teacher.

Geometry enlightlens the intellect and sets one's mind right

The Berbers belong to a powerful, formidable, and numerous people; a true people like so many others, the world has seen - like the Arabs, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.

At the beginning of a dynasty, taxation yields a large revenue from small assessments. At the end of the dynasty, taxation yields a small revenue from large assessments.

All the sciences came to exist in Arabic. The systematic works on them were written in Arabic writing.

People are largely ignorant of the interests of the human species.

Businesses owned by responsible and organized merchants shall eventually surpass those owned by wealthy rulers.

Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated.

Habits are qualities of the soul.

Sedentary culture is the goal of civilization. It means the end of its lifespan and brings about its corruption.

Man is essentially ignorant, and becomes learned through acquiring knowledge.

Islam is under obligation to gain power over all nations.

Man is the child of customs, not the child of his ancestors.

Government is an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself.

The past resembles the future more than one drop of water resembles another.