It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon people will beat the livers of camels (in search of knowledge, that is, drive them hard on long journeys), yet they will not find any scholar more learned than the scholar of Madinah." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it; and Ibn Uyaynah would sometimes narrate it as a riwayah (attributing it directly).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon people will drive their camels hard" (like the previous hadith). The narrator's sometimes saying "it is narrated" does not weaken the hadith, because al-Humaydi is the best informed about the hadiths of his teacher (Sufyan bin Uyaynah) and kept his company the longest; and Ibn Uyaynah used to say: In our view, this scholar (of Madinah) is Imam Malik bin Anas.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever comes to this mosque of ours to learn or teach some good is like one who strives in the path of Allah; and whoever comes for some other purpose is like a man who sees a (fine) thing that pleases him but it is not his." And sometimes he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He sees those who pray but is not one of them, and he sees those who remember Allah but is not among them."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever enters this mosque of ours to learn or teach some good is like one who strives in the path of Allah; and whoever enters it for some other purpose is like a person looking at something that is not his property." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim); they both used all of its narrators as evidence but did not record it, and I know of no hidden defect ('illah) in it! Rather, it also has a third shahid (supporting narration) on the condition of both of them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever goes to the mosque in the morning intending nothing but to learn or teach some good will have the reward of one who performs a complete Umrah; and whoever goes to the mosque in the evening intending nothing but to learn or teach some good will have the reward of one who performs a complete Hajj." Imam Bukhari used Thawr bin Yazid as evidence in the usul (core narrations), and Imam Muslim mentioned him among the shawahid (supporting narrations); as for Thawr bin Zayd al-Dili, he is agreed upon (as trustworthy).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are two greedy ones who are never filled: one greedy for knowledge who is never satisfied, and the other greedy for the world who is never satisfied." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it, and I have not found any hidden defect ('illah) in it.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Shaqiq that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Ka'b (al-Ahbar) and asked about him while Ka'b was present in that very gathering. Ka'b asked: What do you want from him? Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Know that I do not know anyone among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who has memorised his (peace and blessings be upon him) hadiths better than I." Ka'b replied: "Listen! You will not find anyone who seeks something except that he will one day have his fill of it, except the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of the world." Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You are indeed Ka'b (who speaks so profoundly); it is for words like these that I came." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim); and a Companion's saying, "I have memorised hadith better than others", is recorded in their Musnads.

Sayyiduna Mus'ab bin Sa'd narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him), who narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The virtue of knowledge is dearer to me than the virtue of worship, and the best trait of your religion is piety and scrupulousness (wara')."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The virtue of knowledge is dearer to me than the virtue of worship" (like the previous hadith). This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. Al-Hasan bin Ali bin Affan is trustworthy and he stated the chain correctly, whereas Bakr bin Bakkar made it vague (left a narrator unnamed).

Sayyiduna Mus'ab bin Sa'd narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said something similar (to the previous hadith). When we examined it, we found Khalid bin Makhlad to be firmer, of better memory and more reliable than Bakr bin Bakkar, so we ruled in favour of the addition he narrated (the extra narrator in the chain). Abdullah bin Abd al-Quddus also narrated it from al-A'mash with another chain.