With a subtle intellect he observed the good and evil of the time...

With a subtle intellect he observed the good and evil of the time, arrived at correct conclusions after making necessary experiments, and made those conclusions known to the people. [^1] His precepts are so judicious and exact that it may be said that they have been deduced by means of geometrical calculations. They have been stated in such a beautiful manner that from the point of view of their meanings as well as their interpretation they form the foundation of the Arabic literature.

All the thoughts and opinions of the Imam collected in Nahj al-Balaghah are of this standard. In the precepts in which the Commander of the Faithful has addressed theoretical logic, he has left the people free in the matter of their reason and views so that they may find out the factual position and act according to their understanding and comprehension. Such precepts are not in the form of orders, prohibitions or desires.

On the contrary they are philosophical remarks in which the nature and habits of the friends and the enemies, the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the generous and the miserly, the oppressor and the oppressed etc. have been fully explained. He has also explained many scientific laws with logical reasoning. Some of them will be mentioned later.

As regards his precepts which relate to practical logic, or both practical logic and theoretical logic, it may be stated as follows: Those who think that only the laws, rules, regulations and system of government are sufficient for the administration of public affairs are mistaken, because one should take responsibility for the protection and observance of these principles and laws after due explanation of human rights.

Just as it is necessary that one who enacts these laws should be wise, experienced and righteous, it is also necessary that one who implements them should possess these qualities and should obtain the desired results. This is so because the administration of public affairs depends very much on the good and bad qualities of those who promulgate the laws and is also related to the wisdom and attention of the people for whom those laws have been enacted.

In spite of all this it has to be admitted that the various new rules and laws which have been formulated are mostly different from one another.