The Downfall of Nations

At a point in time in which The united states of america is tangibly aware if its empirical power slipping from its international fingers it is necessary for us to reflect upon the greater lesson behind the growth and decline of nations. William Playfair in the first pages of his 'An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations' begins with;


IF it is of importance to study by what means a nation may acquire wealth and power, it is not less so to discover by what means wealth and power, when once acquired, may be preserved.



The latter inquiry is, perhaps, the more important of the two; for many nations have remained, during a long period, virtuous and happy, without rising to wealth or greatness; but there is no example of happiness or virtue residing amongst a fallen people.



In looking over the globe, if we fix our eyes on those places where wealth formerly was accumulated, and where commerce flourished, we see them, at the present day, peculiarly desolated and degraded.



From the borders of the Persian Gulf, to the shores of the Baltic Sea; from Babylon and Palmyra, Egypt, Greece, and Italy; to Spain and Portugal, and the whole circle of the Hanseatic League, we trace the same ruinous [end of page #iii] remains of ancient greatness, presenting a melancholy contrast with the poverty, indolence, and ignorance, of the present race of inhabitants, and an irresistible proof of the mutability of human affairs.

This reality has been spoken of by many wise men before Playfair among them a noble companion of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam as we find in the following narration. Jubair ibn Nufair said, "When Cyprus was conquered and the captives were seized, I looked at Abu-l-Darda' (propheticaly titled the wise man of this nation) and found he was crying. I asked him, "Why do you cry on such a day in which Allah has granted victory and honor to Islam and to the Muslims and has belittled disbelief and its people? " The wise man of the nation put his hand on Jubair's shoulder and said, "How trivial the creatures become to Allah when they ignore His orders! This nation was a mighty and great nation that had power, but they violated the orders of Allah, and thus they were degraded to the conditions you see. Allah imposed captivity on them and whenever Allah imposes such a fate as captivity on any people, this means that He did not care about them."

That which we benefit from Abu-l-darda' that is taken from the fact that his education was from the Prophet himself is that a nation and thus by default an individual's insignificance in front of his creator is in his lack of attention to fullfulling the orders of his creator.