Hadith: “Two Greedy People are NEVER Satiated…”
Disclaimer: This hadith is taken from زاد الطالبين (Provisions for the Seekers) originally written by Shaykh Maulana Muhammad Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri in Arabic. Provision for the Seekers is the English version, with the translation and additional commentary by Mufti Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever. All rights belong to the publisher(s).
Original & Translation
مَنهُومَانِ لَا يَشبَعَانِ، مَنهُومٌ فِي العِلمِ لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهُ، وَ مَنهُومٌ فِي الدُّنيَا لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهَا
“Two greedy people are never satiated: one who is greedy for knowledge can never get enough of it, and one who is greedy for worldly possessions can never get enough of them.”
Note: This is a hadith from Mishkaat al-Masaabih.
Sentence Analysis (Tarkeeb)
مَنهُومَانِ is mubtada. لَا يَشبَعَانِ is fi’l nafi wa faa’il and these form a jumlah fi’liyyah khabriyyah. This jumlah then becomes the khabar. Mubtada and khabar together form a jumlah ismiyyyah khabariyyah and then this jumlah makes up the mufassir.
مَنهُومٌ is ism maf’ool. فِي is harf jarr and العِلمِ is its majroor. Harf jarr and majroor are muta’alliq bil ism maf’ool. Ism maf’ool and its muta’alliq form shibh ul-jumlah and then this shibh ul-jumlah becomes mubtada. لَا يَشبَعُ is fi’l nafi was faa’il. مِنهُ is harf jarr and majroor and they are muta’alliq bil f’il لَا يَشبَعُ. Fi’l, faa’il and muta’alliq bil fi’l لَا يَشبَعُ form a jumlah fi’liyyah khabariyyah. This jumlah then becomes the khabar. Mubtada and khabar together form a jumlah ismiyyah khabariyyah. This jumlah (مَنهُومٌ فِي العِلمِ لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهُ) is ma’toof ‘alayh.
وَ is harf ‘ataf.
مَنهُومٌ is ism maf’ool. فِي is harf jarr and الدُّنيَا is its majroor. Harf jarr and majroor are muta’alliq bil ism maf’ool. Ism maf’ool and its muta’alliq form shibh ul-jumlah and then this shibh ul-jumlah becomes mubtada. لَا يَشبَعُ is fi’l nafi was faa’il. مِنهَا is harf jarr and majroor and they are muta’alliq bil f’il لَا يَشبَعُ. Fi’l, faa’il and muta’alliq bil fi’l لَا يَشبَعُ form a jumlah fi’liyyah khabariyyah. This jumlah then becomes the khabar. Mubtada and khabar together form a jumlah ismiyyah khabariyyah. This jumlah (مَنهُومٌ فِي الدُّنيَا لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهَا) is ma’toof.
Ma’toof ‘alayh, harf ‘ataf and ma’toof form a jumlah ismiyyah ma’toofah. This jumlah then becomes the tafseer. Mufassir (مَنهُومَانِ لَا يَشبَعَانِ) and tafseer (مَنهُومٌ فِي العِلمِ لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهُ، وَ مَنهُومٌ فِي الدُّنيَا لَا يَشبَعُ مِنهَا) together form jumlah tafseeriyyah.
Commentary:
Both Dunya (worldly matter) and ‘ilm (sacred knowledge) are absolute opposites of each other. One should always use this Dunya for the Aakhirah (Hereafter), thereby illuminating both their Dunya and Aakhirah.
‘Ilm and Dunya are so vast. In this hadith, they are being compared to each other. Upon reflection, one will come to the conclusion that there are no ends to it either of them. We can keep getting more and more.
Gaining more and more ‘ilm makes us humbler and makes us realize that we do not know much at all. The more one learns, the more they get questions, and then get more curious and greedier. Therefore, we are never happily satisfied with what we know. The same applies to worldly possessions – it seems like the ultimate fix is to get more to satisfy our nafs (desires).
The takeaway lesson of this hadith is that we should analyze ourselves if we are greedily gaining knowledge for the pleasure of Allah (SWT) or for this world (e.g. to show off, have a high rank amongst people, etc.)
Another very important thing to note: just being greedy for ‘ilm is not enough. We need to evaluate ourselves and see if we are implementing the ‘ilm we’ve learnt into our lives and that we are not just giving naseehah (advice) to others. If one is giving out naseehah and not acting upon it themselves, then this is hypocrisy.
Additional Note:
In addition to the disclaimer, please note that I have not created this information. Rather, I have shared my notes on what was taught to me by my reputable teachers as I am a student of the deen (religion) Islam. All thanks to Allah, the Most High. Any mistake, misuse, or misinterpretation of the teachings would be entirely due to my lack of knowledge. If you have any questions or concerns about these notes, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach me privately through my blog here or @hadithexplained on Twitter.
