Socio Political Thought Of Shah WaliAllah Rahmatullahi Alaihi

theoretical and practical perfection by human individuals. But for
these customs and conventions most of the people would join the
community of beasts. There are so many people who perform marriage
and enter other human transactions in the required manner, but
when asked as to why they restrict themselves by these limits [of
conventions] they find no answer except that they follow the community.
The utmost level of understanding which such people can
attain is a summary knowledge which they cannot even fully articulate,
not to speak of formulating the irtVBq. Such people, if they did
not abide by an established set of conventions, would have almost
joined the beasts.
75. Nonetheless, conventions are sometimes confused with wrong practices
as a result of which people tend to lose sight of the right patterns
of life. This happens when a group of people, dominated by individual
purposes rather than universal purposes, manages to get
ascendancy. They commit brutish acts like robbery and usurpation
or lustful acts like homosexuality and ferninisation of males, or indulge
in harmful earnings like usury, and cheating in weights and
measures. They also adopt those habits in dresses and banquets that
lead to extravagance, and force an excessive dedication to earning.
Such people also indulge in extravagance in entertainments which
results in the negligence of the responsibilities of this world as well
as those of the Hereafter, such as playing music and chess, hunting
and catching pigeons. They also impose heavy taxes on travellers
and cumbersome land taxes on the subjects. Thanks to their policies,
mutual greed and jealousy become common among people.
These people justify to themselves this treatment with others, but
they would detest the same treatment if it were meted out to them.
No one dares to condemn this attitude of theirs due to their power
and glory. Perverted people in the community come forward to follow
and support them and exhaust their efforts in the propagation of'
such evil practices.
76. Similarly, there appear people whose minds are devoid of a definite
and strong tendency to do any virtuous or non-virtuous deeds,
and they cling to these evil practices, merely because they find their
rulers doing the same, or perhaps because they become weary of the
healthy course of conduct. At the same time, there are some people
who maintain a sound disposition, but they stay in the rear ranks of
the community in seclusion from the rest and keep quiet over this