Muqaddimah, 2:272–73 quoted in Weiss (1995), p. 30
“

When civilization [population] increases, the available labor again increases. In turn, luxury again increases in correspondence with the increasing profit, and the customs and needs of luxury increase. Crafts are created to obtain luxury products. The value realized from them increases, and, as a result, profits are again multiplied in the town. Production there is thriving even more than before. And so it goes with the second and third increase. All the additional labor serves luxury and wealth, in contrast to the original labor that served the necessity of life.

— Ibn Khaldun

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "When civilization [population] increases, the available labor again increases. In turn, luxury again increases in correspondence with the increasing profit, and the customs and needs of luxury increase. Crafts are created to obtain luxury products. The value realized from them increases, and, as a result, profits are again multiplied in the town. Production there is thriving even more than before. And so it goes with the second and third increase. All the additional labor serves luxury and wealth, in contrast to the original labor that served the necessity of life." in the context of "Muqaddimah, 2:272–73 quoted in Weiss (1995), p. 30" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Ibn Khaldun" (Quotes, Muqaddimah (1377)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Ibn Khaldun

About Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldūn (Arabic: ابن خلدون) (May 27, 1332 – March 17, 1406) was an Ifriqiyan (North Africa) Arab Muslim historiographer and historian, regarded to be among the founding fathers of modern sociology, historiography, demography, and economics. He is best known for his book, the Muqaddimah ("Prolegomena").