Eighth Aspect
Outward conformity inevitably begets a measure of affection, love, and inner loyalty, just as inner love in turn gives rise to outward conformity. Both sense and everyday experience testify to this. If two men who come from the same town happen to meet in a foreign land, a remarkable closeness and harmony springs up between them—even though, back home, they may never have known one another or may even have been estranged. The reason is that sharing a homeland becomes a distinguishing bond in the land of exile.

Indeed, should two travelers encounter each other on the road or in a strange city and discover that they resemble one another in turban, clothing, hairstyle, mount, or the like, the affinity between them will exceed that felt toward anyone else. Likewise, practitioners of the same worldly craft feel at ease with one another in a way they do not with outsiders—so much so that this mutual attachment may remain even in the midst of enmity and warfare, whether over sovereignty or over creed.

You will also observe that kings and other leaders, though their realms and territories be far apart, still sense a kinship that fosters resemblance and mutual regard. All of this flows naturally from human disposition and its inherent demands, unless religion or some particular aim intervenes to prevent it.