The intrinsic and instrumental social and human value of love is plainly stated in a long chapter entitled “On the Virtue of Love, By Means of Which Societies Are Bound Together,” in the most widely read work of political thought and social ethics in the history of societies of Muslims, the Persian-language Ethics of Nasir-ud-Din Tusi (1201–1274)—itself based on the chapter on “Love and Friendship” in the Arabic-language Refinement of Ethics of Miskawayh (d. 1030)—which presents love as a definitive constituent of a shared Muslim identity, and as a virtue superior even to justice:
The people of the Virtuous City, although they are different from one part of the world to another, are in reality in concord, for their hearts are upright one towards the other, and are adorned with love one towards the other. In their close-knit affection, they are like a single individual. As the shari?ah-giver, peace be upon him, says: “Muslims are a single hand against all others, and are as one soul.” The need for Justice . . . arises from the absence of love, for if love were to accrue between individuals, there would be no necessity for equity and impartiality . . . In this regard, the virtue of Love over Justice is obvious.