Knowledge is only learned to [apply it and] put into practice the Taqwā of Allāh the mighty and sublime.
It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Knowledge is only learned to [apply it and] put into practice the Taqwā of Allāh the mighty and sublime.
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-ʿIlm article 943.
Anas b. Mālik reports:
A young man who had stolen was brought to ʿUmar (for punishment). He said, “By Allāh I have never stolen before this time.” So ʿUmar responded, “You lie, Allāh would not (or does not) surrender a servant of His on the first sin.”
Abū Dāwūd, Al-Zuhd article 56, and others. Graded ṣaḥīh by Ibn Kathīr and others.
It is reported that Ḥudhayfah – Allāh be pleased with him – was asked:
“What is the worst fitnah?” He replied, “That good and evil is presented to you and you do not know which of them to follow.”
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf, Kitāb Al-Fitan, article 38565.
It is reported that Al-Ḍaḥḥāk b. Muzāḥim, the famous scholar of tafsīr from the Tābiʿīn, said:
No one who has learned Qurān and then forgotten it except due to a sin he has committed, because Allāh the most high said: وَمَآ أَصَـٰبَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ Qurān 42:30 “And no calamity befalls you except due to what your own hands have earnt.” And forgetting the Qurān is one of the greatest calamities.
Qurān 42:30
Muḥammad b. Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
A man amongst the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ would go three days without finding anything to eat, so he would take some animal skin, roast it and eat that. If he found nothing at all, he would tie a rock to himself to straighten his back.
Al-Mundhirī, Al-Tarġīb wa Al-Tarhīb. Graded ḥasan by Al-Albānī. See Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Tarġīb wa Al-Tarhīb article 3310.
It is reported from ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar:
When ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb arrived in Al-Shām, he said to Abū ʿUbaydah – Allāh be pleased with them: “Take us to your home.” Abū ʿUbaydah said, “And what will you do with my home?” ʿUmar replied, “Just take us there.” Abū ʿUbaydah said, “You only want to cry your eyes out over me.” So he entered his house and saw nothing [by way of furnishings] in it. ʿUmar asked, “Where are your things? I see nothing but rags, a water-skin and a dish (tray), and you are a governor! Do you have food?” So Abū ʿUbaydah went over to an old pail (bucket) and took out some scraps, and ʿUmar began to weep. Abu ʿUbaydah said to him, “I told you you would cry your eyes out over me. O Commander of the Believers, sufficient for you from the dunyā is what delivers you to your place of rest.” ʿUmar said, “The dunyā changed us all except you Abū ʿUbaydah.”
Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb Al-Zuhd article 123, and others.
Whenever ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās – Allāh be pleased with them – saw a muṣḥaf (copy of the Qurān) decorated with silver or gold he would say:
Do you tempt the thief, when its beauty is in its inside?
Abū ʿUbayd Al-Qāsim b. Sallām, Faḍāʾil Al-Qurān article 907.
It is reported that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Blessings arrive with gratitude [to Allāh], and gratitude is connected with more [blessings], and the two are tied together: more blessings from Allāh will never stop unless gratitude from the servant stops.
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-Shukr article 18.
It is reported that ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Rawwād – Allāh have mercy on him – said to a man:
Whoever does not take exhortation [and is not effected] by three things, will not be exhorted by anything: Islām, the Qurān and old age (graying).
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-ʿUmr Wa Al-Shayb #40
It is reported that Imām Mālik said:
The Salaf used to teach their children to love Abū Bakr and ʿUmar like they used to teach them a sūrah of the Qurān.
Al-Lālakāʾī, Sharḥ ʾUsūl ʾIʿtiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah #2325.