Causes of High Ambition in Seeking Knowledge

Question:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, how can one strengthen their ambition in seeking knowledge?

Answer:
Ambition is strengthened when a person has a desire to seek knowledge and dedicates to it the amount of time that suffices him, giving it the time it requires, and finding someone from among the scholars of knowledge to teach him. If the conditions that assist a person in seeking knowledge are present, his resolve and persistence are strengthened by them, as is his patience in seeking knowledge. For the student of knowledge certainly searches, but he must be patient. If he is patient, Allah will help him. He is patient in sitting with the scholars, patient in studying, and patient in enduring fatigue. The righteous predecessors used to travel long distances to seek knowledge and receive it from scholars and hadith narrators, and they would face dangers, poverty, and need, all of this for the sake of seeking knowledge. If sincere resolve and good intention are present, Allah will help the Muslim in seeking knowledge, along with patience. Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Whoever does not taste the humiliation of learning for an hour will drink the cup of ignorance for the duration of his life." So patience is necessary, along with seeking reward from Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and sincerity of intention for Allah, and seeking the reward from Allah. Yes.