and among humans, beasts, and cattle. He said: Likewise, the variation among humans, beasts, and cattle is like the variation among the mountains. Then He said: "Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear God," so there is no superiority for what precedes it.

17976 - From Sa'id ibn Jubayr (may God be pleased with him) he said: [It refers to] fear, belief, obedience, and the diversity in colors.

His saying, the Almighty: "Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear God."

17977 - From Ibn 'Abbas (may God be pleased with them both) regarding His saying: "Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear God"—he said: Those who know that God is over everything competent.

17978 - From Ibn Mas'ud (may God be pleased with him) he said: Knowledge is not [derived] from the abundance of narration, but knowledge is [derived] from fear.

17979 - From Salih Abu al-Khalil (may God be pleased with him) regarding His saying: "Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear God"—he said: The most knowledgeable of them about God is the most intense of them in fear of Him.

17980 - From the path of Sufyan, from Abu Hayyan al-Taymi, from a man who said: It used to be said: Scholars are three: a scholar of God, a scholar of the command of God, and a scholar of God who is not a scholar of the command of God, and a scholar of the command of God who is not a scholar of God. The scholar of God and the command of God is the one who fears God and knows the bounds and the obligatory duties. The scholar of God who is not a scholar of the command of God: is the one who fears God and does not know the bounds nor the obligatory duties. And the scholar of the command of God who is not a scholar of God: is the one who knows the bounds and the obligatory duties but does not fear God.

17981 - From Malik ibn Anas (may God be pleased with him) he said: Indeed, knowledge is not [derived] from the abundance of reports; rather, knowledge is a light that God casts into the heart.

17982 - From al-Hasan (may God be pleased with him) he said: Belief [is for] one who fears God in the unseen, desires what God has desired, and abstains from what He has angered. Then he recited: "Only those among His servants who have knowledge fear God."

His saying, the Almighty: "They hope for a trade that will never perish."

17983 - Qatadah regarding His saying: "They hope for a trade that will never perish"—he said: Paradise will never perish; it will never come to an end.