The five stages of the state

Ibn Khaldun's well-known theory is that a dynasty passes through different phases and renewed conditions, which in most cases do not exceed five phases. In each phase those who hold power acquire a character suited to its conditions.

The first phase is the phase of victory in the aim, of prevailing over opponents, seizing power, and wresting it from the hands of the former dynasty. The founder of the dynasty is then a model for his people, and does not stand apart from them in anything, since this is what solidarity (asabiyya) requires.

The second phase is that of autocracy over his people, of standing alone in power and restraining them from reaching for a share in it. He takes care to make men his own and to choose clients, to humble the noses of the people of his solidarity who share his lineage. He thus defends himself against his relatives, and only a few distant people support him.

The third phase is the phase of leisure and ease, in which the fruits of power are gathered: wealth is collected, monuments are raised, cities and buildings are constructed, delegations are received, the troops are reviewed, and their pay is distributed. This is the last phase of autocracy.

The fourth phase is the phase of contentment and peace. The ruler is content with what his predecessors built, and as a result of peace he follows their traces step by step.

The fifth phase is that of extravagance and waste. He squanders what his predecessors gathered on his appetites, takes bad companions, and corrupts the leading men of his people, until they harbour resentment against him. Then the nature of old age and chronic sickness settles on the dynasty, and it hardly recovers from it before it dies out. ²

What is not recorded here needs a further source.