Explanation of the book *Hilyat Talib al-Ilm* (The Adornment of the Student of Knowledge) by Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Yes, my brother Ahmad, we have now begun.
The student: Please proceed, O Shaykh, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Dividing friends into three categories: a friend of benefit, a friend of pleasure, and a friend of virtue, and we said one should hold fast to the traits of the friend of virtue, yes.
The reader: "Chapter Five: The Manners of the Student in His Academic Life. The Nineteenth and Twentieth Matter: Greatness of Ambition in Knowledge. Among the characteristics of Islam is adorning oneself with greatness of ambition. The center of the negative and the positive in your person, the watcher over your limbs. Greatness of ambition brings you, by the permission of Allah, good that is not uprooted, so that you may ascend to the degrees of perfection, and the blood of chivalry and running in the field of knowledge and action flows in your veins, so that people do not see you standing except at the doors of virtues, nor extending your hands except for the important matters, and adorning oneself with it..."
The Shaykh : This is among the most important things, that a person seeking knowledge has a goal, not that his intention is merely to kill time with this seeking, but that he has ambition. Among the most important ambitions of the student of knowledge is to desire leadership and imamate for the Muslims in their knowledge, and to feel that this is a degree he ascends to, step by step, until he reaches it. If he is so, he will see that he is the intermediary between Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the servants in conveying the Shari'ah; this is a second rank. And if he feels this feeling, he will strive with utmost effort to follow what came in the Book and the Sunnah, turning away from the opinions of people, except that he takes comfort in them and uses them as an aid to knowing the truth. For what the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) spoke of in knowledge, there is no doubt that it is what opens the doors for us; otherwise, we would not have been able to reach a level where we derive rulings from the texts or know the stronger position from the weaker position, and the like of that. So the important thing is that a person has ambition, and by the permission of Allah, if he intends this intention, then Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) will help him to reach it, yes.
The reader: "And adorning oneself with it strips from you the dregs of hopes and deeds, and uproots from you the tree of humiliation and lowliness, and flattery and compromise. The one with great ambition is steadfast in courage, not terrified by situations, and the one who lacks it is a cowardly, timid person whose mouth is closed by..."
The Shaykh : closed by
The reader: "closed by his mouth the foolishness"
The Shaykh : This is correct. Adorning oneself with high ambition strips from you the dregs of hopes and deeds. Hopes are when a person wishes for something without striving for its causes. The believer is shrewd and astute; hopes do not distract him. Rather, he looks at deeds and anticipates results. As for the one whom hopes distract, who says, "If Allah wills, I will read this, I will review this, I will rest now and then review it," or whom hopes distract in what happens to a person sometimes: he flips through the book in order to review a specific issue, then he looks and issues pass by him in the index or in the pages that distract him from the intended purpose for which he opened the book to review. This happens often, and the time ends and he has not reviewed the issue for which he came to review this book or the index of this book. So beware of disappointed hopes. Make yourself strong in resolve and high in ambition. We have passed through hadiths that indicate that caring for the intended purpose comes before everything, such as?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : 'Utbah ibn Malik, 'Utbah ibn Malik before he ate the food and before he sat with the people, because he came for a purpose. So do not occupy yourself with things you do not want from the start, away from the purpose you desire, because this wastes your time, and it is part of high ambition, yes.
The reader: "And do not err by mixing greatness of ambition with arrogance, for the difference between them is like the difference between the sky with clouds and the earth with cracks. Greatness of ambition is the adornment inherited by the prophets, and arrogance is the disease of the sick with the ailment of the wretched tyrants"
The Shaykh : Yes, we ask Allah for safety. Yes, greatness of ambition is that a person guards his time, knows how to manage it, and does not waste time without benefit. And if a person comes to him and he sees that sitting with him involves negligence and distraction, he knows how to manage it. As for arrogance of the self, it is that one looks down on others and does not see people except as..., and does not care, and perhaps he scowls at you while speaking to you. As Shaykh Bakr said, the difference between them is like the difference between the sky with clouds and the earth with cracks, yes.
The reader: "So O student of knowledge, draw for yourself greatness of ambition and do not let it slip from you. The Shari'ah has hinted at it in the legal rulings that accompany your life, so that you are always awake to seizing it. Among them is the permissibility of dry ablution for the obligated person when water is absent, and not obliging him to accept a gift of the price of water for ablution, because of the favor in that which cannot be attained from ambition"
The Shaykh : which
The reader: "because of the favor in that which cannot be attained"
The Shaykh :"which is attained, which is attained from ambition, an attainment"
The reader: "which is attained" with a damma, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : is attained
The reader: "from ambition, an attainment. And on this, judge accordingly, and Allah knows best"
The Shaykh : It means, from high ambition, not to be envious of what is in the hands of people, because if you are envious and people show you favor, they will dominate you, because favor is dominion over the neck in reality. If a person gave you a qirsh, you would find that his hand is higher than your hand, as came in the hadith.
The student: Please proceed, O Shaykh, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Dividing friends into three categories: a friend of benefit, a friend of pleasure, and a friend of virtue, and we said one should hold fast to the traits of the friend of virtue, yes.
The reader: "Chapter Five: The Manners of the Student in His Academic Life. The Nineteenth and Twentieth Matter: Greatness of Ambition in Knowledge. Among the characteristics of Islam is adorning oneself with greatness of ambition. The center of the negative and the positive in your person, the watcher over your limbs. Greatness of ambition brings you, by the permission of Allah, good that is not uprooted, so that you may ascend to the degrees of perfection, and the blood of chivalry and running in the field of knowledge and action flows in your veins, so that people do not see you standing except at the doors of virtues, nor extending your hands except for the important matters, and adorning oneself with it..."
The Shaykh : This is among the most important things, that a person seeking knowledge has a goal, not that his intention is merely to kill time with this seeking, but that he has ambition. Among the most important ambitions of the student of knowledge is to desire leadership and imamate for the Muslims in their knowledge, and to feel that this is a degree he ascends to, step by step, until he reaches it. If he is so, he will see that he is the intermediary between Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the servants in conveying the Shari'ah; this is a second rank. And if he feels this feeling, he will strive with utmost effort to follow what came in the Book and the Sunnah, turning away from the opinions of people, except that he takes comfort in them and uses them as an aid to knowing the truth. For what the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) spoke of in knowledge, there is no doubt that it is what opens the doors for us; otherwise, we would not have been able to reach a level where we derive rulings from the texts or know the stronger position from the weaker position, and the like of that. So the important thing is that a person has ambition, and by the permission of Allah, if he intends this intention, then Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) will help him to reach it, yes.
The reader: "And adorning oneself with it strips from you the dregs of hopes and deeds, and uproots from you the tree of humiliation and lowliness, and flattery and compromise. The one with great ambition is steadfast in courage, not terrified by situations, and the one who lacks it is a cowardly, timid person whose mouth is closed by..."
The Shaykh : closed by
The reader: "closed by his mouth the foolishness"
The Shaykh : This is correct. Adorning oneself with high ambition strips from you the dregs of hopes and deeds. Hopes are when a person wishes for something without striving for its causes. The believer is shrewd and astute; hopes do not distract him. Rather, he looks at deeds and anticipates results. As for the one whom hopes distract, who says, "If Allah wills, I will read this, I will review this, I will rest now and then review it," or whom hopes distract in what happens to a person sometimes: he flips through the book in order to review a specific issue, then he looks and issues pass by him in the index or in the pages that distract him from the intended purpose for which he opened the book to review. This happens often, and the time ends and he has not reviewed the issue for which he came to review this book or the index of this book. So beware of disappointed hopes. Make yourself strong in resolve and high in ambition. We have passed through hadiths that indicate that caring for the intended purpose comes before everything, such as?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : 'Utbah ibn Malik, 'Utbah ibn Malik
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) invited 'Utbah to his house to pray in a place 'Utbah had designated as a prayer spot. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a time with him, so 'Utbah prepared food for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and informed the neighbors of it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) went out, and when he reached the house, 'Utbah informed him of what he had done. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: "Show me the place where you want me to pray." So he showed him the place and he prayed
دعا النّبيّ صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم الى البيت إلى بيته ليصلّي إلى مكان يتّخذه عتبان مصلّى، فواعده النّبيّ عليه الصّلاة والسّلام فأعدّ لرسول الله صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم طعاما وأخبر الجيران بذلك فخرج النّبيّ صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم فلمّا وصل إلى البيت أخبره عتبان بما صنع ولكنّ النّبيّ صلّى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلّم قال: أرني المكان الذي تريد أن أصلّي فيه فأراه المكان وصلّىThe reader: "And do not err by mixing greatness of ambition with arrogance, for the difference between them is like the difference between the sky with clouds and the earth with cracks. Greatness of ambition is the adornment inherited by the prophets, and arrogance is the disease of the sick with the ailment of the wretched tyrants"
The Shaykh : Yes, we ask Allah for safety. Yes, greatness of ambition is that a person guards his time, knows how to manage it, and does not waste time without benefit. And if a person comes to him and he sees that sitting with him involves negligence and distraction, he knows how to manage it. As for arrogance of the self, it is that one looks down on others and does not see people except as..., and does not care, and perhaps he scowls at you while speaking to you. As Shaykh Bakr said, the difference between them is like the difference between the sky with clouds and the earth with cracks, yes.
The reader: "So O student of knowledge, draw for yourself greatness of ambition and do not let it slip from you. The Shari'ah has hinted at it in the legal rulings that accompany your life, so that you are always awake to seizing it. Among them is the permissibility of dry ablution for the obligated person when water is absent, and not obliging him to accept a gift of the price of water for ablution, because of the favor in that which cannot be attained from ambition"
The Shaykh : which
The reader: "because of the favor in that which cannot be attained"
The Shaykh :"which is attained, which is attained from ambition, an attainment"
The reader: "which is attained" with a damma, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : is attained
The reader: "from ambition, an attainment. And on this, judge accordingly, and Allah knows best"
The Shaykh : It means, from high ambition, not to be envious of what is in the hands of people, because if you are envious and people show you favor, they will dominate you, because favor is dominion over the neck in reality. If a person gave you a qirsh, you would find that his hand is higher than your hand, as came in the hadith.