Question:
What is the correct reference for this?
Abul ‘Ala said: “I never entered upon a man or passed by his door -seeing him with a book in his hand,and his companion doing nothing- except that I judged him to be the more intelligent one” (Ibn ‘Abdil Barr)
Answer:
Imam Ibn ‘Abdil Barr (rahimahullah) has recorded this narration in Jami’u Bayanil ‘Ilmi Wa Fadlihi.
Abu ‘Amr ibnul ‘Ala Al Mazini Al Basri [Demise: 154 A.H] said: “Whenever I entered upon a man or passed by his door and saw him with a book [in his hand] and his companion idle, I judged him and had conviction that he is the more intelligent [of the two].”
(Jami’u Bayanil ‘Ilmi Wa Fadlihi: 2424)
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.
Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala
Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar