and devils, just like everyone else. Because their peers too possess such impulses, the inducement grows stronger, as experience shows: the urge that stirs within a person—along with the whisper of his devil—gains further force from what he observes others, and especially his equals, doing. How many a man had no wish for good or evil until he saw someone else—particularly someone of the same standing—do it, and so he followed suit! People are like flocks of sandgrouse: they are naturally disposed to imitate one another.

For that reason, the one who initiates either good or evil receives a share identical to that of everyone who follows him, in reward or in sin. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Whoever inaugurates a good sunnah will have its reward and the reward of all who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without their rewards being diminished in the least; and whoever inaugurates an evil sunnah will bear its sin and the sin of all who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection, without their sins being diminished in the least.”

This is because they share in the very substance of the act: the ruling for one thing applies to its like, and a thing is drawn to that which resembles it.

If these two motives are already powerful, what when two more join them? Many of the people of wrongdoing love those who agree with them and hate those who do not. This is obvious in corrupt religions, where every faction shows loyalty to its adherents and enmity toward its opponents.

Likewise, in worldly affairs and carnal pleasures they often prefer and favor those who participate with them: either for mutual help, as with power-seekers, warlords, and highway robbers; or simply for concurrence, as with groups who gather to drink wine—they want everyone present to drink; or because they detest