Discussion of the era of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) and what distinguishes it by the love of its people for knowledge and scholars.
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The student: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the badness of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can mislead, and whom He leaves to mislead, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
The Shaykh : (peace and blessings be upon him)
The student: (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and after that.
Introduction to the state of scholarship in the era of Ibn Malik:
The era of Ibn Malik is distinguished by the abundance of books composed in it on various sciences and arts. This is attributed to the wealth that kings lavished upon scholars, and to the high status and respect scholars held among sultans and rulers... and to the desire of some of these kings to establish private libraries and compel scholars to compose books for them. This, along with the proliferation of schools and the students' enthusiasm for them, was the state that led scholars to devote themselves to composition and documentation, until what they composed became the greatest scientific wealth for language, religion, and literature. Perhaps the proliferation of schools, the proliferation of schools.
The Shaykh : The proliferation is correct.
The student: Perhaps the proliferation of schools, the students' enthusiasm for them, and the assignment of teachers to them, perhaps that was the cause of education becoming a specialized industry that compelled scholars to think about how to facilitate knowledge for their students and ease the path for them to grasp its peripheries. And perhaps it was the cause of most scholars...
...that most scholars...
The Shaykh : Most.
The student: That most scholars.
The Shaykh : The scholars.
The student: That most scholars, rather, that they composed the various sciences in verse, that they composed various poetic compositions in the same science. It is established that verse is faster to memorize and more lasting in the mind than prose.
And if you know that Ibn Malik was Andalusian by birth and upbringing, and that the people of Andalus at that time were the most loving of the people of the earth for knowledge, most devoted to acquiring it, and most respectful of its people, and that Ibn Malik was naturally inclined to verse, so that he did not experience difficulty in his speech nor hardship in his composition, if you know that, you can grasp the secret of the knowledge and excellence that Ibn Malik attained.
All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the badness of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can mislead, and whom He leaves to mislead, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
The Shaykh : (peace and blessings be upon him)
The student: (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and after that.
Introduction to the state of scholarship in the era of Ibn Malik:
The era of Ibn Malik is distinguished by the abundance of books composed in it on various sciences and arts. This is attributed to the wealth that kings lavished upon scholars, and to the high status and respect scholars held among sultans and rulers... and to the desire of some of these kings to establish private libraries and compel scholars to compose books for them. This, along with the proliferation of schools and the students' enthusiasm for them, was the state that led scholars to devote themselves to composition and documentation, until what they composed became the greatest scientific wealth for language, religion, and literature. Perhaps the proliferation of schools, the proliferation of schools.
The Shaykh : The proliferation is correct.
The student: Perhaps the proliferation of schools, the students' enthusiasm for them, and the assignment of teachers to them, perhaps that was the cause of education becoming a specialized industry that compelled scholars to think about how to facilitate knowledge for their students and ease the path for them to grasp its peripheries. And perhaps it was the cause of most scholars...
...that most scholars...
The Shaykh : Most.
The student: That most scholars.
The Shaykh : The scholars.
The student: That most scholars, rather, that they composed the various sciences in verse, that they composed various poetic compositions in the same science. It is established that verse is faster to memorize and more lasting in the mind than prose.
And if you know that Ibn Malik was Andalusian by birth and upbringing, and that the people of Andalus at that time were the most loving of the people of the earth for knowledge, most devoted to acquiring it, and most respectful of its people, and that Ibn Malik was naturally inclined to verse, so that he did not experience difficulty in his speech nor hardship in his composition, if you know that, you can grasp the secret of the knowledge and excellence that Ibn Malik attained.