Alone with the Alone

Quote No. 38 from Ali Ibn Abi Talib

On Knowledge and Speech

الناسُ ثلاثةٌ: فعالمٌ ربّانيٌّ، ومتعلّمٌ على سبيلِ نجاةٍ، وهمجٌ رعاعٌ أتباعُ كلِّ ناعقٍ، يميلونَ مع كلِّ ريحٍ، لم يستضيئوا بنورِ العلمِ، ولم يلجأوا إلى ركنٍ وثيق.

There are three kinds of people: a divine scholar, a seeker of knowledge on the path to salvation, and brutish rabble—crowing with every crower, bending with every wind. They have not been illuminated by the light of knowledge, nor taken refuge in a secure cornerstone.

No. 38

These quotes come from Alone with the Alone, a 264-page bilingual hardcover of 113 quotes from Ali Ibn Abi Talib, with footnotes and an afterword.

See the book