"Trim" is the ancient Mboian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. "Trim" (as in a ship whose weight is precisely balanced, or whose sails are well set) is a terrible translation into Common of a complex Mboian concept, but is the best avaiable.
Trim represents the ethical and moral principle that all Mboian citizens were expected to follow throughout their daily lives. They were expected to act with honor and truth in matters that involve family, the community, the nation, the environment, and the gods.
Trim as a principle was formed to meet the complex needs of the emergent Mboian state that embraced diverse peoples with conflicting interests. The development of such rules sought to avert chaos and it became the basis of Mboian custom and law. From an early period the The God-King of Mbo would describe himself as the "Lord of the Cosmic Trim" who decreed with his mouth the Trim he conceived in his heart.
The significance of Trim developed over the centuries to the point that it embraced all aspects of existence, including the basic equilibrium of the universe, the relationship between constituent parts, the cycle of the seasons, heavenly movements, religious observations and good faith, honesty, and truthfulness in social interactions. Mboians have a deep conviction of an underlying holiness and unity within the universe. Cosmic harmony is achieved by correct public and ritual life. Any disturbance in cosmic harmony could have consequences for the individual as well as the state. An impious leader could bring about famine, and blasphemy could bring blindness to an individual.
In addition, several other principles within the concept of Trim are essential, including an adherence to tradition as opposed to change, the importance of rhetorical skill and the significance of achieving impartiality and "righteous action". In one Mboian holy text, the creator declares "I made every man like his fellow". Cosmic Trim called the rich to help the less fortunate rather than exploit them, echoed in tomb declarations: "I have given bread to the hungry and clothed the naked" and "I was a husband to the widow and father to the orphan".
To the Mboian mind, Trim binds all things together in an indestructible unity: the universe, the natural world, the state, and the individual were all seen as parts of the wider order generated by the Cosmic Trim.
In Mboian mythology, while traveling the underworld, the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against her single feather, symbolically representing the concept of Trim, in the Hall of Two Truths. This is why hearts were left in Mboian mummies while their other organs were removed, as the heart (called "ib") was seen as part of the soul. If the heart was found to be lighter or equal in weight to the feather of Trim, the deceased had led a virtuous life and would go on to the afterlife.