Thus, “strength” means strength in carrying out Allah’s command, and “vision” means insight into Allah’s religion. Through insight, the truth is grasped and recognized; through strength, one is able to convey it, put it into practice, and call others to it. This group possessed powers of memorization and understanding, deep knowledge of religion, discernment, and interpretation.
They caused rivers of knowledge to flow from the revealed texts, unearthed their treasures, and were granted a special understanding of them. Thus, when the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked, “Did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, give you anything exclusively, to the exclusion of others?” he replied:
“No, by Him who splits the grain and creates the soul, except for an understanding of His Book that Allah grants a servant.”
This understanding is like the pasture and grass produced by fertile land. It is what distinguishes this group from the second group: those who preserved the texts and devoted their attention to memorizing and accurately retaining them. People came to them and accepted these texts, drew inferences from them, extracted their treasures, put them to profitable use, sowed them in soil suited to cultivation and growth, and watered them, each according to his capacity.
“Each group knew its own drinking place.”
These are the people concerning whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“May Allah make radiant the person who hears my words, retains them, and then conveys them just as he heard them. For many a bearer of religious knowledge has no deep understanding of it, and many a bearer of religious knowledge conveys it to someone with greater understanding than his own.”
Consider ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, the great scholar of this community and interpreter of the Quran. What he heard from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, amounts to fewer than twenty or so hadiths in which he