In this excerpt from his mirror for princes, Ghazālī quotes two sayings to stress the importance of a just ruler: “The ruler is the shadow of God on earth, and in him every wronged person takes refuge”; “An hour of justice is better than sixty years of worship.” In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow uses these two sayings to highlight the crucial role of justice in this genre of literature.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.