Sayyidunā Kathīr b. Qaysرَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه  narrates: "I was present in the Masjid of Damascus in the service of the Companion of the Prophet, Sayyidunā Abū al-Dardāˈ رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ, when a man approached him and said: 'O Abū al-Dardāˈ! I have learned that you narrate a Hadith of the beloved Master صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم; I have travelled all the way from Madinah al-Munawwarah solely to learn that blessed Hadith.'"

(اللہ اکبر! Consider the intensity of his passion for religious knowledge! The distance from Madinah al-Munawwarah to Damascus is over one thousand kilometres, and in that era, there were neither cars nor airplanes; travel was conducted on foot or by animal.)

Sayyidunā Abū al-Dardāˈ رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ asked: "Have you not come for business?"

He replied: "No."

He asked again: "Do you have any other task in Damascus for which you have come?"

The man replied: "No, (I have come from such a distance only to learn the Hadith of the Messenger; I have no other purpose)."

Upon this, Sayyidunā Abū al-Dardāˈ رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ, while describing the virtues of a seeker of religious knowledge, stated:

I heard the final Prophet of Allahصَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم  state: “Whoever treads a path in search of [religious] knowledge, Allah makes the path to Paradise easy for him. Indeed, the angels, being pleased with the seeker of [religious] knowledge, spread their wings for him. Verily, every creature in the heavens and the earth, even the fish in the water, seek forgiveness for the seeker of [religious] knowledge.

“Indeed, the excellence of a scholar over a worshipper is like the excellence of the full moon over the stars. Verily, the scholars are the heirs of the Prophets; the Prophets عَـلَـيْـهِمُ الـصَّلٰوةُ وَالـسَّـلَام do not leave behind dirhams and dinars [i.e., material wealth] as inheritance, they only leave behind