grammar, and what Euclid’s book is for scholars of arithmetic. Its place in jurisprudence is like that of the Mother of the Quran in prayer: it suffices in place of other works, but no other work suffices in its place.

It had been compiled according to the school of the scholars of Iraq. Asad ibn al-Furāt extracted its questions and brought them to Medina to ask Mālik—may Allah have mercy on him—about them and recast them according to his school. He found, however, that Mālik had died. He therefore approached Ashhab to ask him about them, but heard him saying, “Mālik erred in such-and-such a question, and he erred in such-and-such another”—thus disparaging and finding fault with Mālik. Asad would not accept these remarks about him and said, “This is just like a man who urinated beside the sea and then said, ‘Here is another sea!’”

He was then directed to Ibn al-Qāsim. He went to him and earnestly requested his help, but Ibn al-Qāsim refused. Asad persisted until Allah opened Ibn al-Qāsim’s heart to his request. He then began asking him one question at a time. Whenever Ibn al-Qāsim had heard Mālik address a question, he would say, “I heard Mālik say such-and-such about it.” Whenever he had only a report of Mālik’s opinion, he would say, “I heard nothing from Mālik on this, but it has reached me that he said such-and-such about it.” Whenever he had neither heard Mālik address it nor received a report from him, he would say, “I heard nothing from Mālik on this, nor has anything reached me from him. My own view is such-and-such.” He continued until he had completed all the questions.

Asad returned to his homeland with the compilation. Sahnūn asked him for it, but he refused. Sahnūn then contrived to obtain the volumes and copied them. He subsequently travelled with them to Ibn al-Qāsim and read them to him. Ibn al-Qāsim retracted some of his answers and wrote to Asad ibn Furāt, instructing him to correct his book according to Sahnūn’s copy. Asad took offence and refused. When Ibn al-Qāsim learned of this, he prayed that Asad would receive no blessing in it. He was a man whose supplications were answered, and his prayer was answered: people did not devote themselves to studying Asad’s book, but instead turned to reading al-Mudawwana, through which Allah brought benefit.

When Sahnūn encouraged the pursuit of knowledge and patience in acquiring it, he would quote this verse:

How likely the patient are to attain what they seek;
Whoever keeps knocking at doors will enter.

Section

One of the best aids in seeking knowledge is mindfulness of Allah the Almighty, for He—Mighty and Majestic—says:

“Fear Allah, and Allah teaches you.” [al-Baqarah: 282]