Page:Selections from Muhammadan Traditions - tr. William Goldsack (1923).djvu/37

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THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE
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order will be given concerning him, and he will be dragged on his face until he is cast into hell. Then a man will be brought whom God had enriched, and had given various kinds of wealth. And he will be brought and will be shown the benefits (he formerly received), and he will recognize them. Then God will say, 'And what didst thou with regard to these?' He will reply, 'I neglected not to spend in Thy name and in those ways in which Thou lovest things to be spent.' God will say, 'Thou hast lied, rather thou didst that in order that it might be said, "He is most generous," and all this has been said.' Then the order will be given concerning him, and he will be dragged on his face, and afterwards will be cast into hell."'—Muslim.

It is related from Kathír bin Qais that he said, 'I was sitting with ʿAbúʾl-Dardái in the mosque of Damascus when a man came to him and said, "O Abúʾl-Dardái, verily I have come to thee from the city of the Apostle of God for a certain tradition which, I have been informed, thou dost relate from the Apostle of God. I have come for no other purpose." He replied, "Verily I heard the Apostle of God say, 'He who walks a road, seeking knowledge therein, God will cause him to walk on one of the roads of paradise; for verily the angels spread their wings with pleasure for the seeker of knowledge, and verily whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth and the great fishes in the bosom of the waters will pray for the forgiveness of his sins. And verily the pre-eminence of a learned man over a worshipper is equal to the pre-eminence of the moon at the night of full-moon over all the stars. And verily the learned men are the heirs of the prophets, and the prophets did not inherit a single dinar or a single dirham, but they only inherited knowledge; and whoever takes that takes an abundant portion."'—Aḥmad, At Tirmidhí, Abú Dáud, Ibn Májah.

It is related from Abú Umámahuʾl-Báhili that he said, 'Two men were mentioned to the Apostle of God: one of them a worshipper, and the other a learned man. Then the Apostle of God said, "The pre-eminence of the learned man over the worshipper is like my pre-eminence over the meanest of you." After that the Apostle of God said, "Verily God