During the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up, and on that day he had Fadl bin Abbas riding behind him on a brown camel. He said, "People, take hold of knowledge before knowledge is taken away and before knowledge is lifted up."Now Allah had already revealed, "You who believe, do not ask about things which, if made clear to you, would distress you. But if you ask about them while the Quran is being revealed, they will be made clear to you. Allah has pardoned that, and Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing" [Maidah 5:101].So we were reluctant to ask him many questions, and we were cautious about that ever since Allah revealed this to His Prophet ﷺ.We then went to a bedouin and bribed him with a cloak. He wrapped it around his head as a turban until I could see the edge of the cloak hanging out beside his right eyebrow. Then we said to him, "Ask the Prophet ﷺ."So he said to him, "Prophet of Allah, how can knowledge be taken away from us when the written copies of the Quran are right here among us, and we have learned what is in them and have taught our women, our children, and our servants?"The Prophet ﷺ raised his head, and the redness of anger had risen in his face. He said, "May your mother be bereaved of you! These Jews and Christians have the scriptures right there among them, yet they did not hold fast to a single letter of what their prophets brought them. Indeed, part of the disappearance of knowledge is the disappearance of those who carry it." He said this three times.
حدثنا أبو المغيرة حدثنا معان بن رفاعة حدثني علي بن يزيد حدثني القاسم مولى بني يزيد
لما كان في حجة الوداع قام رسول الله ﷺ وهو يومئذ مردف الفضل بن عباس على جمل آدم فقال يا أيها الناس خذوا من العلم قبل أن يقبض العلم وقبل أن يرفع العلم وقد كان أنزل الله عز وجل {يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تسألوا عن أشياء إن تبد لكم تسؤكم وإن تسألوا عنها حين ينزل القرآن تبد لكم عفا الله عنها والله غفور حليم} قال فكنا قد كرهنا كثيرا من مسألته واتقينا ذاك حين أنزل الله على نبيه ﷺ قال فأتينا أعرابيا فرشوناه برداء قال فاعتم به حتى رأيت حاشية البرد خارجة من حاجبه الأيمن قال ثم قلنا له سل النبي ﷺ قال فقال له يا نبي الله كيف يرفع العلم منا وبين أظهرنا المصاحف وقد تعلمنا ما فيها وعلمنا نساءنا وذرارينا وخدمنا قال فرفع النبي ﷺ رأسه وقد علت وجهه حمرة من الغضب قال فقال أي ثكلتك أمك هذه اليهود والنصارى بين أظهرهم المصاحف لم يصبحوا يتعلقوا بحرف مما جاءتهم به أنبياؤهم ألا وإن من ذهاب العلم أن يذهب حملته ثلاث مرار