Kathir ibn Qays said: I was sitting with AbudDarda' in the mosque of Damascus.
A man came to him and said: AbudDarda, I have come to you from the town of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for a tradition that I have heard you relate from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I have come for no other purpose.
He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.
Hadith Commentary: The Excellence of Seeking Knowledge
This noble tradition from Sunan Abi Dawud 3641, found in the Book of Knowledge (Kitab Al-Ilm), contains profound wisdom regarding the status of knowledge and its seekers in Islam. The chain of narration is authentic, beginning with Kathir ibn Qays who witnessed this teaching in the mosque of Damascus.
The Journey for Knowledge
The opening statement establishes that the companion traveled specifically for sacred knowledge, demonstrating the importance of traveling to learn from authentic sources. This reflects the principle that seeking knowledge may require physical journeying, just as the early Muslims traveled to Medina to learn directly from the Prophet (ﷺ).
Four Distinct Blessings for Knowledge Seekers
First: Divine Guidance - "Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise" indicates that the physical journey for knowledge becomes a spiritual journey toward eternal bliss.
Second: Angelic Approval - The angels lowering their wings signifies their profound respect and pleasure toward the seeker of knowledge, a honor rarely mentioned for other deeds.
Third: Universal Intercession - That all creation, including fish in the sea, seeks forgiveness for the scholar demonstrates the comprehensive honor Allah grants to those who preserve and transmit divine knowledge.
Fourth: Celestial Superiority - The comparison of the scholar to the full moon against other stars illustrates that religious knowledge illuminates society as the moon illuminates the night.
The True Inheritance of Prophethood
The final portion establishes that prophets leave no material wealth but rather divine knowledge as their inheritance. This emphasizes that the most valuable legacy is not gold or silver but the guidance that leads to Allah. The one who acquires this knowledge gains the noblest inheritance imaginable.
Scholarly Insights
Imam Al-Munawi comments that this hadith encourages traveling to authentic scholars and establishes the superiority of beneficial knowledge over mere worship without understanding. Ibn Hajar notes that the "abundant portion" refers to both quantity and quality - the knowledge is vast and its rewards eternal.
This tradition collectively establishes that seeking Islamic knowledge is among the highest forms of worship, connecting the seeker to the prophetic legacy and earning divine pleasure in this life and the next.