كُمَيْلُ احْفَظْ عَنِّي مَا أَقُولُ لَكَ النَّاسُ ثَلَاثَةٌ عَالِمٌ رَبَّانِيٌّ وَ مُتَعَلِّمٌ عَلَى سَبِيلِ نَجَاةٍ وَ هَمَجٌ رَعَاعٌ أَتْبَاعُ كُلِّ نَاعِقٍ يَمِيلُونَ مَعَ كُلِّ رِيحٍ لَمْ يَسْتَضِيئُوا بِنُورِ الْعِلْمِ ١وَ لَمْ يَلْجَئُوا إِلَى رُكْنٍ وَثِيقٍ يَا كُمَيْلُ الْعِلْمُ خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْمَالِ الْعِلْمُ يَحْرُسُكَ وَ أَنْتَ تَحْرُسُ الْمَالَ وَ الْمَالُ تَنْقُصُهُ النَّفَقَةُ وَ الْعِلْمُ يَزْكُو عَلَى الْإِنْفَاقِ يَا كُمَيْلُ مَحَبَّةُ الْعَالِمِ دِينٌ يُدَانُ بِهِ يَكْسِبُهُ الطَّاعَةَ فِي حَيَاتِهِ وَ جَمِيلَ الْأُحْدُوثَةِ بَعْدَ وَفَاتِهِ فَمَنْفَعَةُ الْمَالِ تَزُولُ بِزَوَالِهِ يَا كُمَيْلُ مَاتَ خُزَّانُ الْأَمْوَالِ وَ هُمْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَ الْعُلَمَاءُ بَاقُونَ مَا بَقِيَ الدَّهْرُ أَعْيَانُهُمْ مَفْقُودَةٌ وَ أَمْثَالُهُمْ فِي الْقُلُوبِ مَوْجُودَةٌ هَاهْ ٢إِنَّ هَاهُنَا وَ أَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ إِلَى صَدْرِهِ لَعِلْماً لَوْ أَصَبْتُ لَهُ حَمَلَةً بَلَى أَصَبْتُ لَهُ لَقِناً غَيْرَ مَأْمُونٍ يَسْتَعْمِلُ آلَةَ الدِّينِ فِي طَلَبِ الدُّنْيَا وَ يَسْتَظْهِرُ بِحُجَجِ اللَّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ وَ بِنِعَمِهِ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ لِيَتَّخِذَهُ الضُّعَفَاءُ وَلِيجَةً مِنْ دُونِ وَلِيِّ الْحَقِّ أَوْ مُنْقَاداً لِحَمَلَةِ الْعِلْمِ لَا بَصِيرَةَ لَهُ فِي أَحْنَائِهِ يَقْدَحُ الشَّكُّ فِي قَلْبِهِ بِأَوَّلِ عَارِضٍ مِنْ شُبْهَةٍ أَلَا لَا ذَا وَ لَا ذَاكَ فَمَنْهُومٌ بِاللَّذَّاتِ سَلِسَ الْقِيَادِ لِلشَّهَوَاتِ أَوْ مُغْرًى بِالْجَمْعِ وَ الِادِّخَارِ لَيْسَا مِنْ رُعَاةِ الدِّينِ ٣أَقْرَبُ شَبَهاً بِهِمَا الْأَنْعَامُ السَّائِمَةُ كَذَلِكَ يَمُوتُ الْعِلْمُ بِمَوْتِ حَامِلِيهِ اللَّهُمَّ بَلَى لَا تَخْلُو الْأَرْضُ مِنْ قَائِمٍ بِحُجَّةٍ ظَاهِرٍ أَوْ خافي ٤[خَافٍ مَغْمُورٍ لِئَلَّا تَبْطُلَ حُجَجُ اللَّهِ وَ بَيِّنَاتُهُ وَ كَمْ ذَا وَ أَيْنَ أُولَئِكَ الْأَقَلُّونَ عَدَداً الْأَعْظَمُونَ خَطَراً بِهِمْ يَحْفَظُ اللَّهُ حُجَجَهُ حَتَّى يُودِعُوهَا نُظَرَاءَهُمْ وَ يَزْرَعُوهَا فِي قُلُوبِ أَشْبَاهِهِمْ هَجَمَ بِهِمُ الْعِلْمُ عَلَى حَقَائِقِ الْأُمُورِ فَبَاشَرُوا رُوحَ الْيَقِينِ وَ اسْتَلَانُوا مَا اسْتَوْعَرَهُ الْمُتْرَفُونَ وَ أَنِسُوا بِمَا اسْتَوْحَشَ مِنْهُ الْجَاهِلُونَ صَحِبُوا الدُّنْيَا بِأَبْدَانٍ أَرْوَاحُهَا مُعَلَّقَةٌ بِالْمَحَلِّ الْأَعْلَى يَا كُمَيْلُ أُولَئِكَ خُلَفَاءُ اللَّهِ وَ الدُّعَاةُ إِلَى دِينِهِ هَايْ هَايْ شَوْقاً إِلَى رُؤْيَتِهِمْ وَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَ لَكُمْ.

Kumayl, retain from me what I say to you. People are three: a divinely learned scholar; and a learner upon a way of deliverance; and the common rabble, the followers of every bleater, swaying with every wind — they have not sought light by the light of knowledge (1) and have not taken refuge in a firm support. O Kumayl, knowledge is better than wealth: knowledge guards you, while you guard wealth; and wealth is diminished by expenditure, while knowledge grows by the expending. O Kumayl, the love of the scholar is a religion by which one is served; it gains him obedience in his lifetime and a fair mention after his death; whereas the benefit of wealth passes away with its passing. O Kumayl, the hoarders of wealth have died while they are alive, but the scholars endure as long as time endures: their persons are lost, but their likenesses are present in hearts. Ah (2)! Indeed here — and he pointed with his hand to his breast — is knowledge, if only I had found bearers for it. Nay, I did find for it a quick-witted one who was not to be trusted, employing the instrument of religion in the seeking of the world, and seeking support by the proofs of God against His creation and by His blessings against His servants, that the weak might take him as an intimate confidant in place of the guardian of the truth; or one compliant toward the bearers of knowledge but having no insight into its bends, in whose heart doubt strikes fire at the first thing that presents itself of ambiguity. Nay, neither this one nor that. So — either one greedy for pleasures, easily led by his appetites, or one enticed by amassing and hoarding: neither of the two is of the shepherds of religion (3); the nearest thing in likeness to them both is grazing cattle. Thus does knowledge die with the death of its bearers. O God, nay — the earth is never empty of one who upholds the proof, whether manifest or hidden (4) [hidden and obscure], lest the proofs of God and His clear signs be void. And how many are they, and where are those? They are the fewest in number and the greatest in worth. By them God preserves His proofs until they deposit them with their peers and sow them in the hearts of their likes. Knowledge has borne them upon the realities of things, so that they have touched the spirit of certainty; and they have found easy what the luxurious found rough, and have grown intimate with what the ignorant shrank from in dread. They have kept company with this world in bodies whose spirits are attached to the highest place. O Kumayl, those are the vicegerents of God and the callers to His religion. Ah, ah — how I long for the sight of them! And I ask forgiveness of God for myself and for you.

«5»- ف، تحف العقول إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْقُلُوبَ أَوْعِيَةٌ فَخَيْرُهَا أَوْعَاهَا احْفَظْ عَنِّي مَا أَقُولُ إِلَى آخِرِ الْخَبَرِ.

«5»- f, Tuhaf al-'Uqul: Indeed these hearts are vessels, and the best of them is the most retentive. Retain from me what I say — to the end of the report.