The Remedy for Weakness of Ambition in Seeking Knowledge and Performing Good Deeds
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Question:
A questioner asks: What is the remedy for weakness of ambition in seeking knowledge and in performing good deeds?
Answer:
There is no doubt that a person may experience laziness and lethargy, but he must be patient in seeking knowledge. He must endure the hardship of knowledge, or he may seek ease, but he must take knowledge along with hardship and patience, bearing that burden. So he must be patient, having determination and desire for seeking knowledge, and he must endure the hardship of the pursuit and the length of the time. Yes.
It is said that a man was seeking knowledge, and a problem became difficult for him; he was unable to solve it despite all the means he exerted. He wanted to surrender to despair while he was lying on his back. Then he saw an ant carrying something and climbing a wall. Every time it was about to reach the top, it fell. Then it would return a second time and carry it again. It would return a third time. In the last attempt, it climbed up. He said: "Glory be to Allah! This ant did not despair; it endured hardships until it reached its goal. I am not as patient as it." So he was patient and succeeded. He was patient and succeeded, and he attained what he sought. Yes.
The poet says: "Be delighted with knowledge and do not be weary, for the affliction of the scholar is that he becomes weary. Do you not see that the rope, by its repeated rubbing on the bare rock, has made an impression?" Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you, Honorable Shaykh.
A questioner asks: What is the remedy for weakness of ambition in seeking knowledge and in performing good deeds?
Answer:
There is no doubt that a person may experience laziness and lethargy, but he must be patient in seeking knowledge. He must endure the hardship of knowledge, or he may seek ease, but he must take knowledge along with hardship and patience, bearing that burden. So he must be patient, having determination and desire for seeking knowledge, and he must endure the hardship of the pursuit and the length of the time. Yes.
It is said that a man was seeking knowledge, and a problem became difficult for him; he was unable to solve it despite all the means he exerted. He wanted to surrender to despair while he was lying on his back. Then he saw an ant carrying something and climbing a wall. Every time it was about to reach the top, it fell. Then it would return a second time and carry it again. It would return a third time. In the last attempt, it climbed up. He said: "Glory be to Allah! This ant did not despair; it endured hardships until it reached its goal. I am not as patient as it." So he was patient and succeeded. He was patient and succeeded, and he attained what he sought. Yes.
The poet says: "Be delighted with knowledge and do not be weary, for the affliction of the scholar is that he becomes weary. Do you not see that the rope, by its repeated rubbing on the bare rock, has made an impression?" Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you, Honorable Shaykh.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-002-أثر طاعة ولي الأمر على الفرد والمجتمع|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (57:06)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.