The Sixteen Rights of a Scholar
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16-1 حدثنا أبوالقاسم الحسن بن محمد بن سعيد الهاشمي الكوفي في مسجده بالكوفة قال: حدثنا محمد بن إبراهيم القطفاني قال: حدثنا جعفر بن محمد بن هشـامالوراق قال: حدثنا علي بن محمد السدوسي الفقيه قال: حدثنا الحسين بن علوان، عن عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي بن أبي طالب، عن أبيه، عن جده، عن علي ابن أبي طالب عليهم السلام قال: إن من حق العالم أن لا تكثر السؤال عليه، ولا تسبقه في الجواب، ولاتلح عليه إذا أعرض، ولا تأخذ بثوبه إذا كسل، ولا تشير إليه بيدك، ولا تغمزه بعينك، ولا تساره في مجلسه، ولا تطلب عوراته، وأن لا تقول: قال فلان خلاف قولك، ولا تفشي له سرا، ولا تغتاب عنده أحدا، وأن تحفظ له شاهدا وغائبا،و أن تعم القوم بالسلام وتخصه بالتحية، وتجلس بين يديه، وإن كانت له حاجة سبقت القوم إلى خدمته،ولا تمل من طول صحبته فإنما هو مثل النخلة، فانتظر متى تسقط عليك منها منفعة. والعالم بمنزلة الصائم القائم المجاهد في سبيل الله، وإذا مات العالم انثلم في الاسلام ثلمة لا تسد إلى يوم القيامة، وإن طالب العلم ليشيعة سبعون ألف ملك من مقر بي السماء
16-1 Abul Qasim al-Hassan ibn Muhammad ibn Sa’id al-Hashemi al-Kufy in the Kufa Mosque narrated that Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Qat’tani quoted Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Hisham al-Warraq, on the authority of thejurisprudent - Ali ibn Muhammad al-Sadoosi, on the authority of Al-Hussein ibn Alvan, on the authority of Abdullah ibn al-Hassan ibn al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ali ibn Abi Talib (MGB), “The rights of a scholar include the following: You should not ask him too many questions. You should not rush to answer questions before he does. You should not insist when he doesn’t want to respond. You should not be pushy with him (pull on his clothes) when he gets tired. You should not point at him with your fingers. You should not wink at him. You should not whisper in someone’s ears in his class. You should not seek his faults. You should not talk too much or argue with him saying that others have said things opposite to his views. You should not divulge his secrets. You should not gossip about anyone in front of him. You should support him both in his presence and in his absence. When you go to see him with some people present there, you should greet all of them and express especial greetings for him. You should sit in front of him. You should rush to supersede others in fulfilling his needs whenever he needs something. Do not get upset if you have to wait a while to talk with him, since his case is similar to the case of a palm tree. That is, you have to wait for a while before you can get some dates. A scholar is just like one who fasts, stays up at night and strives in the way of God. Once a scholar dies it causes a gap in Islam which can never be filled up until the Resurrection Day. In fact, there are seventy-thousand special heavenly angels appointed to follow those who seek knowledge.