حياة السلف بين القول والعمل

High ambition: On the authority of Ja`far, he said: We entered upon Abu al-Tayyah, may God have mercy on him, to visit him. He said: By God, it is fitting for a Muslim man that what he sees of people’s negligence of God’s commands should increase his seriousness and diligence. Then he wept. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 1/459].

High ambition: Abu Ja`far al-Tabari, may God have mercy on him, said to his companions: “Are you eager to write a history of the world from Adam to our time?” They said: “How long would it be?” He mentioned about thirty thousand pages, and they said: “Life would pass before we could finish it!” He said: “To God we belong! Ambitions have died.” So he summarized it to about three thousand pages, and when he wanted to dictate the commentary, he said something similar to that to them, then he dictated it in a manner similar to the length of the history. [Siyar (its abridgment) 3/1151].

High ambition: Abu Hatim al-Razi, may God have mercy on him, said to his son Abd al-Rahman: My son, I walked on foot in pursuit of Hadith for more than a thousand farsakhs. [Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya].

High ambition: Ibn Kathir, may God have mercy on him, said: Ibn Khallikan mentioned in “Al-Wafayat” that the reason for Al-Tahawi, may God have mercy on him, moving to the school of Abu Hanifa and turning away from the school of his uncle Al-Muzani, was that his uncle said to him one day: By God, nothing will come from you. So he became angry and studied with Abu Ja`far Ibn Abi Imran Al-Hanafi, until he excelled and surpassed the people of his time, and he authored many books, including “Ahkam Al-Qur`an”, “Ikhtilaf Al-`Ulama`”, “Ma`ani Al-Athar”, and “Al-Tarikh Al-Kabir”. [Al-Bidayah wa Al-Nihayah 11/248].