So you Want to be a Student of Knowledge?

The Patience of Salaf in the path of Seeking Knowledge

Taken from Siyr lam al-Nubal by Adh-Dhahb & others
Translated by Salah al-Iranee

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Masjid Daar us Sunnah | www.DuSunnah.com | London

Ab Masd Abd ur-Rahmn said, I heard ibn Thir P say,

I urinated blood twice whilst seeking knowledge. Once in Baghdd

and another time in Makkah. I used to walk bare-footed in the heat,
as a result I was afflicted with that [urinating blood]; and I never
rode an animal in pursuit of knowledge. I used to carry my books
upon my head, and I never asked anyone for a thing whilst I was
seeking knowledge. I used to live on whatever came to me.1

Amad ibn anbal P said,

Shubah sought knowledge from al-kim ibn Utaybh for 18

months. He even sold the beams of the roof of his house [to get
by].2

Abd ur-Rahmn ibn Ab tim P said,

We were in Egypt for 7 months, and we did not [even] eat broth
whilst we were there. Our day was apportioned for the scholars
assemblies and at night we would write and revise [what we
learnt]. Once, I and a companion came to a Shaykh [to study], but
they said he is ill. Then, on our way [back] we saw a fish that we
liked, so we bought it. When we arrived home, it was time to attend
a gathering, so we did not have time to prepare it. We left it and
proceeded to the lesson. We remained [busy in seeking knowledge]
until 3 days passed over it and it almost expired, so we ate it raw.
We didnt even have enough time give it to someone who would

1
Adh-Dhahb, Siyr Alam al-Nubal (19/363).

2
al-Ill wa Mrift al-Rijl (2/342).
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 cook it [for us]. Then he said. Knowledge is not attained with
convenience.3

The great scholar of Arabic grammar, Muammad ibn Amad Ab Bakr

al-Khayyat al-Baghdd P ;

Used to study all the time, even on the road. He would often fall
into a hole or be trampled by an animal!4

Ibn Aql P said,

I try my very best to limit the time I spend eating, to such an

extent that I choose dry biscuit and a sip of water over eating
bread, because of the difference in chewing [time] between the
two, so as to save my time for reading or writing down some useful
ideas. The best thing for the wise man to save is time.5

Dwd at-T used to drink bread soup instead of eating bread. When that
was mentioned to him he replied,

The difference between chewing bread and drinking bread soup is

[enough time for] the reciting of 50 verses.6

Ibn Uyyanh said I heard Shubah P say;

Whoever seeks knowledge will go bankrupt! I sold my mothers

washing basin for seven dinars.7

Abd ur-Rahmn ibn Ab tim P said, I heard my father say,

I remained in Basrah in the year 214.H for eight months, but I

wanted to stay there for a year, however I had no more money [to
suffice]. So [as a result] I started to sell the clothing on my back
until my money finished again.

At that time I used to attend lessons of scholars with my friend. I

would seek knowledge from them until the night, my friend would
leave and I would return back to my house with nothing. So I
began to drink water due to hunger. Then, the next day, my friend
came early in the morning and I went around with him listening

3
Adh-Dhahb, Tathkirt al-Hufdh (3/38).

4
Mashq ill al-Qirta Talb al-Ilm (p. 62).

5
Ibn Ab Yal, Tabaqt al-Hanbilah (1/145).

6
al-Majlis wal Jawhir al-Ilm (1/346).

7
Adh-Dhahb, Siyr Alam al-Nubal (10/578).
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 to adth whilst I was severely hungry. Then he left [for home] and
I would return hungry. The next day, he came early in the
morning and said, Come with us to the scholars. So I replied, I
am too weak. So he asked, What has weakened you? I said, I
will not hide from you my condition. It has been two days since I
ate anything. He said, I have a dinr remaining, I will support
you with it and use the other half for the rent. So we left Basrah
and I took from him half a dinr.8

Jafar ibn Durstuyh said,

We used to go to the gathering of Al ibn al-Madan at the time of

al-sr today, for the gathering of tomorrow. We would sit all
night in fear that our place would be taken whilst we used the
toilet, and as a consequence we would not hear the lesson the next
day. I saw an old man in the gathering urinating in his tylasn (a
type of garment worn on the head) whilst folding the tylasn until
he finished urinating, all because he feared losing his seat if he left
to urinate.9

Muammad ibn Isml as-Sigh said,

In one of our journeys to Baghdd, Amad ibn anbal passed by us

whilst he was running with his shoes in his hands. So my father
took hold of his thobe and said: Ab Abdullh, have you no
shame? Until when will you race with these youngsters? He
replied: Until death.

Ab Hurayrh P said,

I have seen myself having a seizure between the minbr of the

Prophet 4 and ishas room, and the people were saying He
is insane. Yet I was not affected by insanity, nothing was wrong
with me except hunger.10

Ibn al-Kathr P said,

al-Bukhr would wake up at night from his sleep, light the

lantern, and then write a beneficial thought that crossed his mind.
He would then put out the lantern, and then wake up again and

8
Muqdimh al-Jrh wal-Tadl (p.363).

9
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/38).

10
Ab Numn, Hilyh al-Awliyyh (3/362).
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 again, until the number of times he did that would be close to
twenty times.11

Ab Ahmed Nsr ibn Amad al-Iydh as-Samarqnd P said,

No one can obtain this knowledge except one who closes down his
shop, ruins his farm, abandons his brothers and who, when the
closest of his family dies, does not attend his funeral.12

Ibn al-Qsim P said,

Seeking knowledge caused Malik ibn Anas to demolish the roof of

his house and sell its wood.13

Yay ibn Sad al-Qattn P said whilst mentioning studying adth,

I used leave my house in the morning and not return until it was
dark.14

Ibn Shihb az-Zhhri P said,

I stayed for forty-five years going between ash-Shm and al-Hijz,

and I did not find a adth which I considered rare! [Ive never
heard].15

Ubayd bin Yash P said:

I lived thirty years not eating with my hands I mean at night my

sister would feed me while I wrote16

Al-Hfidh Abd ur-Rahmn ibn Ysuf ibn Kirsh P said,

I drank my urine in this affair [of seeing knowledge] five times. al-
Khtb al-Baghdd said, I presume he was compelled to do so
during journeys due to the absence of water, and Allh knows
best.17

11
Ibn Kathr, al-Bidyh (11/3).

12
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).

13
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, Tarkh al-Baghdd (2/13).

14
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).

15
Ab Numn, Hilyh al-Awliyyh (3/362).

16
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).

17
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, Tarkh al-Baghdd (10/280).
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 Ali ibn al-Hasan Shaqq P said,

I was with Abdullh ibn al-Mubrak in the masjid one cold winter
night. We stood to leave and when we were at the door, he
narrated some adth to me or I narrated to him. He did not cease
to narrate to me or I did not cease to narrate to him until the man
who calls to prayer came and called to the Fajr prayer.18

Khalaf ibn Hishm P said,

I found some parts of Arabic grammar difficult. So I spent 80,000

dinrs until I mastered it.19

Farqad As-Subkh P said,

I entered upon Sufyn ath-Thawr when he was in the state of

illness that caused his death. So a man narrated a hadth to him that
surprised him. So he thrust his hand beneath his bed and withdrew
some [writing] tablets of his and he wrote that adth. It was asked
of him, [Do you do such a thing] in the state you are in? to which
he replied, Indeed it is good and I have heard [something] good,
and if I die, then indeed I have written goodness.20

Muammad ibn Ynus P said,

I wrote (adth) in al-Basrh from one thousand, one hundred and

eighty-six men.21

Ibn al-Mghirah said,

I walked a distance of seventy days because of the transcript of

Mfadhal Fudhlah, and if a baker offered me a loaf of bread [for
exchange] it wouldnt be accepted.22

Az-Zuhur P said,

18
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).

19
Adh-Dhahb, Siyr lam al-Nubal (10/578).

20
Ab Numn, Hilyh al-Awliyyh (7/64).

21
al-Khatb al-Baghdadi, al-Jm' li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).

22
Adh-Dhahb, Tathkirt al-Hufdh (3/121).
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 I followed Sad ibul-Msayyib for three days in seeking knowledge.23

Ikrimh P said,

Ibn Abbs used to fetter my leg and teach me the Quran and
Sunnah.24

Ab liyah P said,

We use to listen to the narrations of the companions of the

Messenger of Allah 4 in al-Basrh, but we were not satisfied
until we travelled to Madnah and heard them from their
mouths.25

Imam Ibn Ab tim ar-Rz said whilst mentioning the travels of his father,
the Imm Ab tim in the pursuit of adth,

I heard my father say, The first time I travelled to study adth, I

spent seven years in which I counted the steps I walked, they
exceeded a thousand leagues - a league is the distance of one hour
and a half - and then I stopped counting.

As for travelling from Kfah to Baghdd, they were of countless

times. From Makkah to Madnah [I travelled] many times. I slipped
out from the sea near Madnah [all the way] to Egypt walking, then
by foot from Egypt to Ramlh. I then walked from Ramlh to Bayt
al-Maqdis and then from ar-Ramlh to Asqaln. I then travelled
from Ramlh to Tiberius and from Tiberius to Damascus.
Thereafter, I travelled from Damascus to Homs, from Homs to
Antakya and then to Tarsus. I then returned from Tarsus and went
back to Homs.

I had some adth left to hear from Ab al-Yamn, so I heard from

him. I then left Homs to Bayt Shean and thereafter to Raqqah. I then
rode from Raqqah to the Euphrates to Baghdd, before I departed
for Shm. I went to Wsit and then to the Nile. From the Nile I went
to Kfah.

All of that was by foot on my first journey [in pursuit of knowledge]

for seven years, whilst I was twenty years of age. I departed Rayy in

23
Ab Numn, Hilyah al-Awliyyh (3/362).

24
Ab Numn, Hilyh al-Awliyyh (3/362).

25
al-Khatb al-Baghdd, al-Jm' li Akhlq ar-Rw wa db as-Sm (2/174).
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 the year 213.H in the month of Ramadn, and returned in the year
221.H.26

Ab Dwd as-Sjistn,

Used to tailor one sleeve of his garment wider than the other.
When he was asked about it he said, The wider sleeve is for books
and the other is not in need of it.27

Ibn Aql P said,

I am not allowed to waste an hour of my life. Even when I am not

delivering lessons or reading, my mind would still be occupied with
some matters whilst Im lying down, and I will not get up until I
find something useful to write. I still find zeal in my search for
knowledge whilst [I am] in my eighties more than when I were in
my twenties.28

Sulaym ibn Ayyb P ,

Used to give much importance to his time. He never wasted it

without doing something beneficial. He wrote books, taught lessons
or read.29

26
Ibn Ab tim Ar-Rz, al-Jrh wal-Tadl (1/359).

27
Adh-Dhahb, Siyr lam al-Nubal (13/217).

28
Ibn al-Jawz, al-Muntadham (9/214).

29
Adh-Dhahb, Siyr lam al-Nubal (17/646).

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