and the Most High says:
“Indeed, those who conceal the clear proofs and guidance We have sent down, after We have made them clear to people in the Scripture—those are cursed by Allah and by those who curse.” [al-Baqarah: 159]
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Convey from me, even if only one verse.” He also said: “Let those present convey this to those absent.” It is related that Abū Dharr said: “If you placed a sharp sword here”—pointing to the back of his neck—“and I thought I could convey a word I had heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, before you put me to death, I would convey it.”
Section
Knowledge can only be acquired through diligence, sustained study, inquiry, toil, and patience in its pursuit. Thus Allah Most High relates that Moses, peace be upon him, said to al-Khidr:
“You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in anything.” [al-Kahf: 69]
He also said to his young companion:
“We have certainly suffered fatigue on this journey of ours.” [al-Kahf: 62]
Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said: “I would travel for days and nights in pursuit of knowledge and a single hadith.” Through this he surpassed the people of his time and was called the foremost of the Successors.
Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said: “For fifteen years, I would go in the morning from my home to the home of Ibn Hurmuz and remain with him until the noon prayer.” This was in addition to his regular attendance upon other teachers and his great diligence. Through this he excelled his contemporaries and was called the Imam of the Abode of Emigration.
Ibn al-Qāsim spent twenty years away from his homeland on his journey to study with Mālik, remaining until Mālik died—may Allah have mercy on him. Sahnūn likewise travelled to Ibn al-Qāsim. Among the material he studied with him were the legal questions of al-Mudawwana and al-Mukhtalita, which he committed to writing. The resulting compilation became the foundation of Mālikī scholarship and takes precedence over other compilations after Mālik’s al-Muwattaʾ—may Allah have mercy on him.
It is related that, after the Book of Allah, no book is more authentic than Mālik’s al-Muwattaʾ—may Allah have mercy on him—and that, after al-Muwattaʾ, no compilation of jurisprudence is more beneficial than al-Mudawwana. For scholars of jurisprudence, al-Mudawwana is what Sībawayh’s book is for scholars of