صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                                     صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

O devotees of the Prophet! Those who make effort attain great success! Keep in mind that knowledge is required to carry out worship, and making an effort is vital to gain knowledge. Let us listen to an account of a great scholar in this regard and see how he was blessed due to his hard work.

The successful, assiduous student of knowledge

ꜤAllāmah SaꜤd al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, whose books are taught in the syllabus of the scholar course, was the weakest student in the class of Qāḍī ꜤAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shīrāzī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. In fact, he was often used as an example when speaking about weak students. Despite this, he did not give up and paid no attention to the comments of people. He continued to put in effort when it came to studying and memorising his lessons. One day, he was busy in studying when a stranger came to him and said, “O SaꜤd al-Dīn, stand! Let us roam around.”

He replied, “I was not created to roam around. (My state is such that) I cannot understand even with revision, so how can I wander around?”

Hearing this, the man left. He then returned after a short while and asked him to come and roam with him again, and ꜤAllāmah al-Taftāzānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه gave him the same reply. So, the man left again and then returned after a short while. This time, he said, “The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم is mentioning you.” Upon this, his body started to tremble, and he began running barefooted to see the beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. He arrived at a place outside the city, where the beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم was resting in the shade of a dense tree.

Seeing ꜤAllāmah al-Taftāzānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, the noble Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم began to smile and said, “You did not come despite our repeated invitations?”