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**On the Virtue of Knowledge, Teaching, and Learning**
So he chose knowledge, and wealth and kingship were given to him along with it.
One of the scholars said: *I wonder—what has the one who missed knowledge truly attained? And what has the one who attained knowledge truly missed?*
Ibn ʿAbbas said: *Discussing knowledge for part of the night is more beloved to me than spending the entire night in worship.*
One of the wise was asked: *What is the best possession to acquire?*
He replied: *Those things which, if your ship sinks, will swim with you—meaning knowledge.*
It was said that the sinking of the ship here refers to the destruction of the body through death.
Another wise man said: *I do not pity anyone more than two kinds of people: a man who seeks knowledge but does not understand it, and a man who understands but does not seek knowledge.*
I say: Some of our scholars—may God have mercy on them—have reported among the traditions from Abu Dharr (may God be pleased with him):
*Learning a single chapter of knowledge is more beloved to us than performing a thousand units of voluntary prayer.*
He also said: We heard the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) say:
*“If death comes to the seeker of knowledge while he is in this state, he dies as a martyr.”*
Wahb ibn Munabbih said: From knowledge branch out many virtues: honor, even if its possessor is of low status; dignity, even if he is humiliated; nearness, even if he is distant; wealth, even if he is poor; nobility, even if he is insignificant; reverence, even if he is humble; and safety, even if he is ill.
One of the gnostics said: *If a sick person is prevented from food, drink, and medicine, he dies. Likewise, if the heart is deprived of knowledge, reflection, and wisdom, it dies.*
Another said: *Whoever sits with a scholar but cannot memorize anything from his knowledge will still receive seven honors:*
– He attains the merit of the seekers of knowledge.
– Sins are withheld from him as long as he sits there.
– Mercy descends upon him when he leaves his home seeking knowledge.
– When he sits in the circle of the scholar, mercy descends and he receives a share of it.
– As long as he listens, obedience is recorded for him.
– If he listens but does not understand, his heart feels sorrow for missing knowledge, and this sorrow becomes a means of drawing nearer to God, as God says: *“I am with those whose hearts are broken.”*
– He sees Muslims honoring scholars and humiliating the corrupt, so his heart turns away from corruption and inclines toward knowledge.
For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) instructed people to keep the company of the righteous.
It is also said: *Whoever sits with eight kinds of people will gain eight qualities:*
– Sitting with the wealthy increases love of worldly life and desire for it.
– Sitting with the poor brings gratitude and contentment with God’s decree.
– Sitting with rulers increases pride and arrogance.
– Sitting with women increases ignorance and desire.
– Sitting with children increases boldness in sin and delaying repentance.
– Sitting with the righteous increases desire for acts of obedience.
– Sitting with scholars increases knowledge.
God taught seven individuals seven forms of knowledge:
– Adam was taught all the names.
– Al‑Khidr was given knowledge of insight and intuition.
– Joseph was given knowledge of interpreting dreams.
– David was taught the craft of making armor.
– Solomon was taught the language of birds.
– Jesus was taught the Torah and the Gospel, as God says: *“And He will teach him the Book, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel.”*
– Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was taught the law and the knowledge of divine unity.
The knowledge of Adam was the cause of the angels prostrating before him and his elevation above them.
The knowledge of al‑Khidr led to Moses becoming his student.
The knowledge of Joseph brought him his family, kingdom, and divine selection.
The knowledge of David brought leadership and rank.
The knowledge of Solomon brought him victory and the story of Queen Bilqis.
The knowledge of Jesus cleared the accusation against his mother.
The knowledge of Muhammad brought the gift of intercession.
The path to Paradise lies in the hands of four: the scholar, the ascetic, the worshiper, and the fighter in the path of God.
If the scholar is truthful, he is granted wisdom; the ascetic is granted security; the worshiper is granted reverent fear; and the fighter is granted praise.
Some scholars said that scholars are of three kinds:
1. A scholar who knows God but not the commands of God—his heart is overwhelmed with divine knowledge and contemplation of God’s majesty.
2. A scholar who knows the commands of God but not God—he knows lawful and unlawful matters and detailed rulings but not the deeper realities of divine majesty.
3. A scholar who knows both God and His commands—he stands between the world of the unseen and the world of the visible.
Such a person is sometimes with God in love and devotion, and sometimes with people in compassion and mercy. When he returns from his Lord to the people, he appears as one of them, as if he does not know God; and when he is alone with his Lord, absorbed in remembrance and worship, it is as if he does not know the people. This is the path of the prophets and the truthful.
This is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):
*“Ask the scholars, associate with the wise, and sit with the great.”*
The scholars referred to here are those who know the commands of God, who should be asked about legal matters.
The wise are those who know God deeply, whose company should be kept.
The great are those who know both, whose companionship brings good in both this world and the next.
Each of these groups has distinguishing signs.
The one who knows only God’s commands remembers God with his tongue but not with his heart, fears people more than God, and is shy before people but not before God in private.
The one who truly knows God remembers Him with the heart, fears the loss of divine closeness rather than merely fearing sin, and possesses inner modesty.
The one who knows both God and His commands possesses six qualities: the three mentioned above plus three more—he stands between the unseen and the visible worlds, teaches both groups, and both groups need him while he remains independent of them.
The one who knows both is like the **sun**, constant in its light.
The one who knows God alone is like the **moon**, sometimes full and sometimes diminished.
The one who knows only the commands of God is like a **lamp**, burning itself while giving light to others.
Al‑Ghazali said regarding the rational proofs for the virtue of knowledge:
The purpose of this discussion is to understand the excellence and value of knowledge, for unless one understands what virtue truly is, its importance cannot be fully realized.
