Quotes from Franz Rosenthal

The subject of gambling is all encompassing. It combines man's natural play instinct with his desire to know about his fate and his future.

Socrates "was asked why seawater had become salty. He replied: If you can indicate to me the use that will come to you from knowing the answer to this question, I shall give you the reason." And Diogenes, "seeing a youth with a lamp, said to him: Do you know where this - fire comes from? The youth replied: If you can tell me where it goes to, I shall tell you where it comes from, thus effectively silencing Diogenes, something nobody else had been able to do.

God's love is earned by a man through being a scholar and at the same time behaving as inconspicuously and modestly as if he were an ignoramus.

Saying, I do not know,' constitutes one half of knowledge" is both a Prophetical tradition and a saying found in Graeco-Arabic wisdom literature. The phrase most widely recommended for use was lâ adrî "I do not know." Aristotle was described as saying that he was so fond of using it that he used it also in cases where he possessed the required knowledge.

Your knowledge belongs to your spirit. Your wealth belongs to your body.

At the peak of human gnosis, man's knowledge of God may appear associated with the love of God. An early Sufi is said to have re- marked that he loved God, because God had bestowed upon him, among other favors, his knowledge of Him.

Kings exercise control over people, and scholars exercise control over kings.

The intellect itself was unable to state who God was, until God anointed its eyes with the light of divine uniqueness, for, as al-Kalâbâdhî developed this theme, the only guide to God and the knowledge of God is God Himself.

The majority con- sensus, however, reached eventually was again expressed clearly and forcefully by al-Ghazzâlî: "The knowledge about (ma- rifah) God is the end of every cognition (ma- rifah) and the fruit of every knowledge (or science, - ilm) according to all schools of thought." There is no true knowledge of God for man, but human knowledge can achieve some realization of His being.

As far as the praise of knowledge is concerned, al-Askarî otherwise restricts himself to some of the more ordinary statements, such as the hadîth affi rming the Prophet's permission to use attery and show envy in connection with knowledge, or Alî's famous remark that a man's value consists in what he knows or does well.

Its insistence upon "knowledge" has no doubt made medieval Muslim civi lization one of great scholarly and scientifi c productivity, and through it, Muslim civilization made its most lasting contribution to mankind.

Love of what is good and useful, and hatred of what is ugly or evil and harmful are the conditions for success. Bashfulness (hayâ, corresponding to Greek aidôs) and the avoidance of bad company and of sloth are among the qualities strongly recommended for inculcation in the young.

Scholars who have to spend their time among ignoramuses, or, even worse, are under their control, are to be pitied. Knowledge, being more precious than pearls, must not be wasted upon the pigs who do not want it. This quotation of Matthew 7:6 is often repeated in adab works.

The seekers after knowledge should, of course, not seek worldly knowledge and worldly gain but devote themselves to the denunciation of the world, to the knowledge that is light and intuition, that falls like the rain from heaven and induces man to exhibit a greater fear of God.

When Jesus was hailed with the words, "Blessed be the womb that bore you," he retorted, "Blessed be the one whom God taught His Book and who did not be(come) a tyrant.

The knowledge scholars possess causes them to act. Eventually, they will be sought after by the people, but as true scholars, they will flee from all the worldly demands made on them. High praise is due to the man who speaks and knows, who listens and retains, who retains and acts.

Umar puts his awareness of the restlessness for more and more knowledge that possesses true scholars, in these words: "Scholars are more prone to sleeplessness and slower to have enough to eat than any guests.

The difference of opinions alone makes a person aware of possible mistakes of his teacher.

Knowledge without action is like a bow without a string." A relationship as close as blood relationship must be established between knowledge and action. Knowledge is acquired, because it is a ladder leading up to action, which is true action only if it leads to God.

A man remains knowing as long as he searches for knowledge and continues to study. When he thinks he knows, he has become ignorant.

One of the early Muslims, Ubâdah b. a - âmit (d. ca. 34/654–55), exhorted his son al-Walîd on his deathbed in these words, as reported by a-abarî: "You will not be God-fearing, and you will not achieve knowledge until you believe in God and in predestination good or bad."54 Knowledge is clearly conceived here as coming after faith, which appears to be the more primitive and simpler achievement.

1. "Knowledge is that through whose existence he in whom it subsists is enabled to act in an orderly fashion and to act well."126 2. "Knowledge is an attribute (sifah) whose existence does not make it impossible for him who is alive and capable (al-hayy al-qâdir) to act well."127 Cf. K-1. 3. "Knowledge is the attribute (wasf ) that enables him who possesses this attribute to act in an orderly fashion."128

Among the four things a noble person need not be ashamed of is serving a scholar in order to learn from him. Ata- b. Musab's remoteness from and indifference to the Barmecides made him popular with them, although others possessed more adab than he did.

In Arabic linguistic usage, we are told, the interpretation of "water" as knowledge is confirmed by the common fi gure of speech that calls a man of vast knowledge an "ocean." Moreover, the comparison of water and knowledge suggests that just as those who would sail the sea without a ship would drown in it, those who look for knowledge among those who do not have it will perish.