Chapter I: Acquisition of Knowledge
Once a party of men were praising a man before the Prophet and praised excessively. The Prophet asked: How is his intellect?
They said: We shall inform you after seeking his diligence in prayer and other good deeds. Why do you ask us about his intellect? The Prophet said: The ignorance of an ignorant man is more harmful than the transgression of a sinner. On the Resurrection day, a man will be raisedito the rank of nearness to God in proportion to his intellect. Trie Prophet said: Nobody earns a better thing than intellect. It shows him path towards guidance and saves him from destruction. The intellect of a man does not become perfect and his religion firm till his faith does not become perfect. The Prophet said: A man acquires the rank of praying all nights and fasting all days through good conduct.
The good conduct of a man does not become perfect till his intellect is not complete and when his intellect becomes perfect he obeys God and disobeys his enemy the devil. The Prophet said: Every thing has a root and the root of a believer is intellect and his divine service will be in proportion to his intellect. Have you not heard the words of the sinners in Hell: Had we heard and understood, we would not have been the inmates of Hell .
Hazrat Omar asked Tamim Dari: What is the supreme authority among you? He said: Intellect. He said: You have spoken the truth, I had asked the Prophet as I asked you and he had replied as you replied. Then the Prophet said: I asked Gebrail: What is the main thing? He said: Intellect. Hazrat Bara'a-b-Azeb said: I asked many things to the Prophet. He said:
O people, for everything there is a mainstay and the mainstay of man is intellect. He who among you learns a thing by proof and argument is the best in intellect among you. Hazrat Abu Hurairah said: When the Prophet returned from Uhud. He heard him say: So and so is such and such. The Prophet then said: You
94 THE BOOK OF WORSHIP Vol-I
have got no knowledge about these men. They asked: O Prophet of God, how? He said: Each man has got rank according to the intellect 'God' has given him. Their victory and their hope were in proportion to their intellect. So they reached to their different ranks. On the Resurrection Day, they will get those ranks according to their intention and intellect.