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Usul al-Kafi
Book 2: The Book of Excellence of Knowledge

Chapter 16

Traditions 102 to 110
Gems strewn

102. Imam Ali (p): Refresh your minds with marvels of wisdom because minds too get tired as your bodies do.(B2, C16, T1)

103. Imam Ali (p): O seeker of knowledge! Numerous are the advantages of knowledge. The head of knowledge (if knowledge is personified as a human being) will be humility, its eyes will be immune from jealousy; its ears will be understanding (the truth and justice); its tongue will be truthfulness; its security lies in visiting the learned scholars; its ambitions will be to establish (universal) peace; its wisdom will be piety; salvation will be its final abode; its health will be its leader; faithfulness will be its mount; sweet talk will be its ammunition; its sword will be the acceptance of the Will and Pleasure of God; its bow (and arrow) will be sympathy and hospitality; its army will be its good manners; its treasures will be its refraining from sins; its sustenance will be its good manners; its meekness will be its beverage (to quench his thirst during his journey); its guide will be the Divine Guidance and its comrades will be the love of virtues.(B2, C16, T2)

104. Prophet Muhammad (p): The most able adviser for the faithful is knowledge, the noblest adviser of knowledge is forbearance, the best adviser of forbearance is kindness and the most competent adviser of kindness is patience.(B2, C16, T3)

105. A believer asked Prophet Muhammad (p): O Prophet of God, what is knowledge?
The Prophet (p): Silence (refraining from unnecessary gossip).
The Believer: Then what?
The Prophet (p): To listen (to the learned).
The Believer: Then what?
The Prophet (p) said: To memorize (what he has heard).
The Believer: Then what?
The Prophet (p): Act on it.
The Believer: Then what?
The Prophet (p): To disseminate it.(B2, C16, T4)

106. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Anyone who memorizes forty of our traditions, God will raise him as a scholar of religious jurisprudence.(B2, C16, T7)

107. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): In a doubtful case, it is better to wait and think than to take any hasty decision. It is better to abandon a tradition which in your opinion is not correctly reported than to narrate it without verification.(B2, C16, T9)

108. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Regarding what you do not know out of what has come down to you (the Noble Quran), you must try to keep silent. (Or else) refer the same for confirmation to the divinely guided Imams (p) so that they may lead you to the correct interpretation. They will also dispel its obscurity and make you aware of the truth.
Then the Imam (p) quoted the verse: …Ask the people of understanding in case you do not know (Q, 16:43).(B2, C16, T10)

109. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): I find the knowledge of all men divided in four categories: First, realization of your Lord; secondly, to acknowledge all His favours to you; thirdly, to understand your obligation towards Him; and fourthly, to know what banishes you from the folds of your religion.(B2, C16, T11)

110. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Assess the status of people on the basis of the frequency of their quoting our traditions.(B2, C16, T12)