Badawa and hadara

Ibn Khaldun determined that the generations of the desert (badw) and of the settled (hadar) are natural and unavoidable, because their ways of earning a living differ. He held that the desert is the origin of civilisation and that cities are fed by it, because the necessary comes before the desirable and the luxurious. He held that the Arab generation is natural in its make-up, and that they are the most savage of people, since they are devoted to camels rather than sheep and cattle, and so they went deep into the deserts. He held that the people of the desert are closer to goodness than the settled people, because the soul in its first nature is ready to receive what is impressed on it, whereas the settled people's souls have been coloured by blameworthy habits from the abundance of pleasures they suffer. He held that they are closer to courage, because the settled people entrust the business of defence to their governors, to the garrison and to the walls, and so they come down to the level of women and children. ².

He also held that the Arabs prevail only over open lands, since by their savage nature they are plunderers and raiders. They do not go to close engagement unless they are defending themselves, and tribes protected by rugged mountains are safe from their raids. When they conquer a land, ruin comes to it quickly. Kingship is only achieved for them through a religious colouring, whether prophethood, sainthood, or some great mark of religion, because by the nature of savagery they are the most difficult of peoples to bring under one another's rule. When there is a prophet or a saint among them, the restraint comes from within themselves, the pride and rivalry disappear, their submission becomes easy, their unity is complete, and they attain domination and kingship. They are the quickest of people to accept the truth, because their natures are sound. ³

What is not recorded here needs a further source.