A man narrated [a story] to me, that in their town there was a blind man who knew the time of Fajr had arrived [just] by the smell [in the air]; yes, [just] by its smell – without actually [being able to] see it!
Category: Knowledge
The minds of men
The minds of the men are at the tips of their pens.
Do not be misled by the actions of the people
Do not be misled by the actions of the people, because the actions of the people could be based upon [their] ignorance.
The people would have all perished
If it were not for the scholars transmitting the knowledge, and teaching the people – generation after generation, the people would have all perished.
Beware of the scholars of evil
Be cautious of the scholars of evil, just as you are cautious of Iblees.
My father, as I knew him
Before [the advent of] electricity, he would go out every moonlit night to read. And in winter, he would go out and sit between two steel barrels for protection against the cold!
He would read 800 pages a day
He was extremely fond of knowledge, and would read extensively, such that when he was in his youth, he would read 800 pages a day, and read 2,000 volumes in the moonlight.
Because oil was scarce at the time
Most of what Shaykh Ja’far al-‘Atamee read [in the seeking] of knowledge was by way of the moonlight, because oil was scarce at the time.
They say it is an innovation
That is because if there was any good in it, then they would have preceded us in it, since they did not leave any good practice except that they hastened to it.
The religion will disappear a Sunnah at a time
…[so] the religion will disappear a Sunnah at a time, just as a rope loses its strength little by little.