سورة البقرة

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): O Hisham! Allah has given glad tidings to the people of intellect and understanding in His Book and has said: 'Give glad tidings to those who listen to what is said and follow the best of it. These are the ones whom Allah has guided, and these are the possessors of intellect and discernment.' ... O Hisham! Allah has praised those of intellect in the finest manner and adorned them with the most beautiful attributes, and has said: يُؤْتِی الْحِکْمَةَ مَنْ یَشاءُ وَ مَنْ یُؤْتَ الْحِکْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِیَ خَیْراً کَثِیراً وَ ما یَذَّکَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُوا الْأَلْبابِ [He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom is indeed given a great good; and none takes heed except the possessors of intellect]. O Hisham! Allah says: In this is a reminder for the one who has intellect. (Qaf/37) In this is a source of admonition for the one who has a heart — meaning: the one who has intellect. And He has said: 'We granted wisdom to Luqman' — by which is meant understanding and intellect.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Recognition of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) and the Imams (peace be upon them) is خَیْراً کَثِیراً [a great good].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): What is meant [by the great good in أُوتِیَ خَیْراً کَثِیراً (he is given a great good)] is obedience to Allah and recognition of the Imam (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): abundant good and benefit [in this world and the hereafter] has been given to him. He said: "What is meant [by the abundant good given to him] is knowing the Imam (peace be upon him) and abstaining from the major sins for which Allah has made the Fire [of Hell] obligatory upon [those who commit] them."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Wisdom means knowledge and deep understanding in religion, so whoever among you attains deep understanding in religion is a hakim (sage), and the death of no believer is more beloved to Satan than the death of a faqih (jurist).

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Wisdom is the Quran itself, and in the tafsir of this verse, wisdom is knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated, the clear and the ambiguous, the earlier and the later, the lawful and the unlawful, and the like of that [in the Quran].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) [in this verse], concerning [the fact that the Quran is wisdom, from] the qualities of the Quran, it is mentioned that its wonders cannot be counted and its marvels do not wear out. It is the lamp of guidance and the shining sign of wisdom.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Wisdom is the light of knowledge, the inheritance of taqwa (piety) and the fruit of truthfulness. Allah has not bestowed upon any of His servants a blessing greater, loftier, firmer, more beautiful or more precious than wisdom. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: يُؤْتِی الْحِکْمَةَ مَنْ یَشاءُ وَ مَنْ یُؤْتَ الْحِکْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِیَ خَیْراً کَثِیراً وَ ما یَذَّکَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُوا الْأَلْبابِ [He grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great good, and none but men of understanding mind pay heed] — meaning: no one knows what I have promised and prepared in wisdom, except the one whom I have purified for Myself and singled out with it. Wisdom is steadfastness, and the quality of the hakim (sage) is steadfastness at the beginning of matters and firmness at their outcomes, and he is the guide of Allah's creation towards Allah the Exalted. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Ali (peace be upon him): "If Allah were to guide through your hands a single one of His servants, it would surely be more blessed for you than everything upon which the sun shines from its rising to its setting (meaning: it is better than the whole earth)."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The Jews asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) about the spirit. [The Prophet] said: The spirit is from Allah. "You have been given only a little of knowledge." (Isra/85) They said: "Has only a little knowledge been given to us Jews [or to all people]?" He said: "Rather, to all people." They said: "How can this be right? O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! You claim that only a little of knowledge has been given to you, while the Quran has been given to you and the Torah has been given to us, and you recite in the Quran: whoever is given wisdom — meaning the Torah — has been granted a great bounty." Allah revealed this verse: "And if all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea were ink for it, with seven more seas added to it, all these would come to an end but the words of Allah would not come to an end. Allah is Mighty, Wise." (Luqman/27) This verse says: the knowledge of Allah is greater than all of this. What has been given to you is much in your eyes, but little in the sight of Allah.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Abd al-Aziz ibn Muslim: We were with Imam Rida (peace be upon him) in Marw. I came to him and informed him that the people were engaged in discussion, debate and disagreement over the matter of the Imamate. He (peace be upon him) smiled and said: "O Abd al-Aziz! These people, out of their ignorance, have been deceived by their own opinions ... Allah has granted the prophets and the Imams (peace be upon them) the favour of bestowing upon them, from the treasury of His knowledge and wisdom, things He has not bestowed upon others. Their knowledge is above the knowledge of the people of their time; in accordance with the saying of Allah the Exalted: 'Is He who guides to the truth more worthy of being followed, or one who does not find guidance unless he is guided? What is the matter with you, how do you judge?' (Yunus/35) And this divine word: 'and whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great good.'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The highest wisdom and knowledge is the fear of Allah.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Silence is a door from among the doors of wisdom.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Allah granted me the Quran and granted me from wisdom something equal to and like the Quran. Any house in which there is no wisdom is in fact ruined. Seek understanding deeply; acquire fiqh (deep understanding) and learn, and do not die in ignorance.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): One day, during one of the journeys of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), a group of riders met him. They greeted him and said: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)!" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) turned to them and asked: "Who are you?" They answered: "We are among the believers." He said: "What is the reality of your faith?" They said: "We are content with the divine decree, submissive to the command of our Lord, and we entrust our affairs to Allah." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Wise scholars [have such a station that] because of their wisdom they are close to becoming prophets. If you are truthful in what you say, then do not build [beyond your need] a house you do not dwell in (the world), and do not gather provisions you will not eat (the wealth of the world), and adopt the fear of Allah, to whom is your return."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): O Yunus, whenever you seek sound knowledge, take it from the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Knowledge has been given to us, and wisdom and fasl al-khitab (decisive speech) have been explained to us. Allah has chosen us and has given us what He has not given to anyone in the worlds.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever seeks wisdom must love my Ahl al-Bayt.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah is the Hakim (Wise) whose wisdom is complete, and the Alim (Knowing) whose knowledge is complete, and the Loving One who loves His servants.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Allah did not distribute among His servants anything better than intellect. The sleep of the wise person is better than the wakefulness (night vigil) of the ignorant person, and the eating of the wise person is more meritorious than the fasting of the ignorant person. Allah did not send down any prophet except when his intellect had become complete and his intellect had surpassed the intellects of his entire ummah. And what the prophet keeps hidden within himself is superior to the striving [of all those who strive]. And the [true] servant does not fulfil the obligatory duties except when he has gained understanding and comprehension regarding them. And the worshippers and ascetics, with all their acts of worship, did not attain what the wise person attained through his intellect. These are the ulul-albab (people of understanding) of whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: وَمَا یَذَّکَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الأَلْبَابِ [And none but people of understanding take heed].