From Kumayl ibn Ziyad who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) took my hand and lead me out in the direction of the graveyard. When we came to the edge of the desert he then sat and breathed deeply.
He then said “Oh Kumayl ibn Ziyad, remember these words I say to you: The Hearts are vessels; the best of them are those that hold the most. People are of three types: A ‘Rabbani’ scholar, a learner on the path of success, and mindless insects; followers of every crier; they bend with every wind; they neither illuminated themselves with the light of knowledge, nor did they return to a firm corner.
Knowledge is better than money; knowledge protects you, while you protect money. Knowledge increases with actions; money is decreased when spent. Knowledge reigns, while money is dominated. The love of a scholar is Din which is practiced. Knowledge earns the scholars obedience in this life and a beautiful remembrance after death. Money’s yield ceases with its end; hoarders of wealth have died while still alive, while scholars remain for the depths of time; their persons have vanished, while their example lives on in the hearts.
Hah! Verily here lies knowledge (pointing to his chest) if only I could find for it carriers. Instead it found untrustworthy bearers, those who used the tools of the Din for this life; invoking the evidences of God against his book, and his blessing against his servants. [Others were] steered by the people of truth, having no insight into their own lives; doubt strikes their hearts at the first sign of doubt; neither here nor there. [Still others] were gluttons, steeped in desires. How easily are they driven by lusts and deceived by the gathering of wealth and its storage. They are those who have not preserved this Din. The closest they resemble are grazing animals.
This is how knowledge dies, with the death of its carriers. Oh God! The earth will not be left without one establishing God’s proofs, so that God’s proofs and evidences are not abolished. They are small in number, yet their stature is great in God’s estimate. Through them God promotes his evidences until they are conveyed to those like them, until they are harvested in similar hearts. Knowledge drove them to see the reality of the situation; they [then] saw easy those things that the affluent see as laborious, finding intimacy in those things the ignorant find distressful. They accompanied this life in body while their hearts were connected to higher company. Those are God’s vicegerents in his earth and the callers to his Din; Hah, Hah, I wish I could see them. I seek God’s forgiveness for both of us, if you wish you can leave now.”