Umairah said: A man said to his son: Go and acquire knowledge. The boy went out and disappeared. Then when he returned, he narrated some hadiths to his father. The father said: Go, my son, (still) seek knowledge. He remained absent for some time, then returned with some books and papers and read them to his father. The father said to him: This is blackness on whiteness; now go and learn knowledge. So he went away from them again, then returned and said to his father: Father! Now ask me whatever you wish. His father said: If you pass by a man who praises you and another man who finds faults in you, what is your opinion about this? The boy replied: In such a case, I will neither blame the one who finds faults nor praise the one who praises. The father said: If you see a page, what will you do? Abu Shurayh said: I do not know whether he said a page of gold or a page of silver—if you see it, what will you do? He said: I will neither pick it up nor go near it. The father said: Go, now you have become a scholar.

Sakan bin Umair said: I heard Wahb bin Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on him, say: "My son! Adhere to wisdom, for indeed all goodness is in wisdom. It is wisdom that grants honor to the young over the old and to the slave over the free. It increases the nobility of the master and seats the poor in the place of kings."

Sayyiduna Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If it were not for the instructions of the scholars, we would be nothing.