It is only the storyteller-preachers (al-qusās) who have killed knowledge...

 

It is reported that Abū Qilābah – Allāh Have mercy on him – said: 

"It is only the storyteller-preachers (al-qusās) who have killed knowledge. A man listens to a storyteller for a year without really learning anything that will last, whereas a man who sits with a scholar for an hour learns what will last and benefit him before he even gets up."

 

Abō Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 2:287.

Focus on Your Purpose

 

Haafidh al-Hakami [d. 1377 AH] (1), may Allaah have mercy on him, said: 

“Know that Allaah, the Lofty and High, has not left the creation without a purpose.” (2)

Allaah, the Most High, says in His Book:

“Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us?” (3)

Haafidh al-Hakami, may Allaah have mercy him, commented on this verse by saying:

The Shipwreck

 

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island ….

He prayed feverishly for Allaah to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.

“Allaah, how could you do this to me!” he cried.