Muhammad.com collection in 109 languages

learned.” It was then said to him: “And who are the kings?” He answered: “The
ascetics.” He was asked: “Who are the ignoble people then?” He answered:
“Those who in the name of religion, grow fat in the world.” Ibn Al Mubarak only
regarded the learned as belonging to mankind, because it is knowledge, which
distinguishes man from the animals. Furthermore, man is a human being, not
because of his physical prowess, because physically the camel is his superior;
not because of his size because the elephant is larger; nor for his courage
because the lion is more courageous than he, not because of his appetite for the
ox has the greater.

Al Hassan - may Allah have mercy upon him - said: “The ink of the learned will
be likened to the blood of the martyrs, and the former will prove superior.”


Salem, Abi Al Ja‟d‟s son said: “My master bought me for 300 Dirhams and later
set me free. Then I said what shall I do to support myself? So finally I took up
learning and no sooner than a year had passed the Amir of Madinah called upon
me, but I would not receive him.”