Continuation of Guidance for the Student of Knowledge.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Is this apparent meaning intended or not intended? Is this general text specified or not specified? Is this absolute text restricted or not restricted? You will find him striking the Sunnah against itself because he has no knowledge of this matter; he does not scrutinize it. This is prevalent among many of the young people today who care about the Sunnah; you will find one of them rushing to judge the ruling derived from a hadith or to judge the hadith itself. This is a great, serious danger. Yes.
The reader: And in the biography of Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jalil in the History of Baghdad.
The Shaykh : All right, he says: "No matter how far you advance in knowledge, remember how much the first left for the last". This is good, but we say that better than this is: no matter how far you advance in knowledge, remember the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:[Yusuf 12:76] Because this is from the Qur'an and clearer in indication than the saying of the first, "how much the first left for the last." Whenever you advance in knowledge, remember: [Yusuf 12:76] And remember the other verse: [Al-Isra 17:85] Yes.
The reader: And in the biography of Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jalil in al-Khatib's History of Baghdad, he mentioned from a poem of his:
"The noble one is not like the base one *** No, nor is the intelligent one like the foolish one
A man's worth is whatever he does well *** A ruling from Imam 'Ali"
The Shaykh : This has been discussed previously, but "the noble one is not like the base one" means the noble one, the one of high ambition, is not like the base one. The denial of similarity is apparent. No, nor is the intelligent one like the foolish one; likewise, the intelligent person is not like the foolish person. All right, what remains is "nor is the knowledgeable one like the ignorant one," except that it is taken from his saying: "The noble one is not like the base one", because the knowledgeable one is noble. As for his saying:
"A man's worth is whatever he does well *** A ruling from Imam 'Ali"
He has already preceded with "The worth of every man is what he does well," and we have already commented on it. Yes.
The reader: The twenty-sixth: Traveling for the sake of seeking knowledge for one who has not traveled for it.
The Shaykh : For one who has not, perhaps he has a journey.
The reader: Yes?
The Shaykh : Perhaps for one who has not a journey, here, "ha" with a damma. Also, the damma indicates a missing expression; the listener and the speaker should return to the original text.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The reader: So, one who does not travel in the seeking of knowledge to search for scholars and to tour in taking from them, it is unlikely that he will be qualified to travel to him, because these scholars who did not waste their time in learning, teaching, and receiving from them possess precision, retention, scientific points, and experiences.
The Shaykh : And experiences.
The reader: And experiences and experiences.
The Shaykh : Your "ra" is with a kasrah.
The reader: Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : "Experiences" and "experience" is a mistake; it is not Arabic, even though it is common among people now, even among students of knowledge, who say "tajarib" and "tajribah," whereas the correct form is with a kasrah on the "ra." The poet said:
"They tried him, but their trials did not add to Abu Qudamah *** Except glory and excellence"
Now it is clear that the meaning is: one who has not traveled in the seeking of knowledge will not be traveled to, meaning he will not have a journey, i.e., people will not travel to him. The meaning is that one who does not reach the level of knowledge that is reached will not be traveled to, and people will not come to him. Yes.
The reader: And in the biography of Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jalil in the History of Baghdad.
The Shaykh : All right, he says: "No matter how far you advance in knowledge, remember how much the first left for the last". This is good, but we say that better than this is: no matter how far you advance in knowledge, remember the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
but over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing.
وفوق كل ذي عِلْمٍ عليمbut over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing.
وفوق كل ذي عِلْمٍ عليمAnd mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."
وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلًاThe reader: And in the biography of Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jalil in al-Khatib's History of Baghdad, he mentioned from a poem of his:
"The noble one is not like the base one *** No, nor is the intelligent one like the foolish one
A man's worth is whatever he does well *** A ruling from Imam 'Ali"
The Shaykh : This has been discussed previously, but "the noble one is not like the base one" means the noble one, the one of high ambition, is not like the base one. The denial of similarity is apparent. No, nor is the intelligent one like the foolish one; likewise, the intelligent person is not like the foolish person. All right, what remains is "nor is the knowledgeable one like the ignorant one," except that it is taken from his saying: "The noble one is not like the base one", because the knowledgeable one is noble. As for his saying:
"A man's worth is whatever he does well *** A ruling from Imam 'Ali"
He has already preceded with "The worth of every man is what he does well," and we have already commented on it. Yes.
The reader: The twenty-sixth: Traveling for the sake of seeking knowledge for one who has not traveled for it.
The Shaykh : For one who has not, perhaps he has a journey.
The reader: Yes?
The Shaykh : Perhaps for one who has not a journey, here, "ha" with a damma. Also, the damma indicates a missing expression; the listener and the speaker should return to the original text.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The reader: So, one who does not travel in the seeking of knowledge to search for scholars and to tour in taking from them, it is unlikely that he will be qualified to travel to him, because these scholars who did not waste their time in learning, teaching, and receiving from them possess precision, retention, scientific points, and experiences.
The Shaykh : And experiences.
The reader: And experiences and experiences.
The Shaykh : Your "ra" is with a kasrah.
The reader: Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : "Experiences" and "experience" is a mistake; it is not Arabic, even though it is common among people now, even among students of knowledge, who say "tajarib" and "tajribah," whereas the correct form is with a kasrah on the "ra." The poet said:
"They tried him, but their trials did not add to Abu Qudamah *** Except glory and excellence"
Now it is clear that the meaning is: one who has not traveled in the seeking of knowledge will not be traveled to, meaning he will not have a journey, i.e., people will not travel to him. The meaning is that one who does not reach the level of knowledge that is reached will not be traveled to, and people will not come to him. Yes.