Al-Mawardi Quotes on Knowledge
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Mawardi was an Arab Islamic jurist of the Shafi'i school and the principal classical theorist of Sunni political thought. This page collects quotes attributed to Al-Mawardi on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“هذا جَنَاهُ أَبي عَلَيَّ وما جَنَيْتُ عَلَى أَحَدْ”
This wrong was by my father done To me, but ne’er by me to one. As quoted in Three Great Abbasid Poets: Abu Nuwas, Al-Mutanabbi & Al-Ma'arri, Lives & Poems (2015) by Paul Smith, with the following explanation: "Abu 'l-'Alá regarded procreation as a sin and universal annihilation as the best hope for humanity. He acted in accordance with his opinions, for he never married, and he is said to have de -
“Alternate Translation of Kevin Blankinship : This is my father’s crime against me, which I myself committed against none.”
هذا جَنَاهُ أَبي عَلَيَّ وما جَنَيْتُ عَلَى أَحَدْ -
“As quoted in Studies in Islamic Poetry (1921) by Reynold A. Nicholson”
Men of acute mind call me an ascetic , but they are wrong in their diagnosis. Although I disciplined my desires, I only abandoned worldly pleasures because the best of these withdrew themselves from me. -
“Risalat al-Ghufran (The Epistle of Forgiveness) [ 1 ]”
Sometimes you may find a man skillful in his trade, perfect in sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to religion he is found obstinate, so does he follow in the old groove. Piety is implanted into human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. To the growing child, that which falls from his mother's lips is a lesson that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and devot -
“Spoken by poet Aws ibn Hajar in Risalat al-Ghufran . [ 2 ]”
Some worse people than I have entered Paradise! But it is not everybody’s fortune to be granted forgiveness, it is like wealth in the Fleeting World. -
“As quoted in Studies in Islamic Poetry (1921) by Reynold A. Nicholson”
Whenever I reflect, my reflecting upon what I suffer only rouses me to blame him that begot me. And I gave peace to my children, for they are in the bliss of non-existence which surpasses all the pleasures of this world. Had they come to life, they would have endured a misery casting them to destruction in trackless wildernesses.