The Prophet ﷺ said, "Woe to the Arabs from an evil that has drawn near. Successful is the one who restrains his hand. Draw near to the remembrance, sons of Faruq, for the Arabs have turned away. By Allah, among you are Some men who, if knowledge were at the Pleiades, would reach it."
عن النبي ﷺ قال: ويل للعرب من شر قد اقترب، أفلح من كف يده، تقربوا يا بني فروخ إلى الذكر، فإن العرب قد أعرضت، والله إن منكم رجالا، لو كان العلم بالثريا لنالوه.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (4249), Ahmad (9691), Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil (2299), and Bayhaqi in Shuab (4945), all of them through routes from Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, who mentioned it. The wording given here is that of Tahawi and Bayhaqi, while Abu Dawud and Ahmad confined themselves to the first part. Its chain of transmission is sahih.However, Abu Muawiya narrated it from Amash with the same wording but as a stopped report (mawquf), except that those who narrated it from Amash as a raised report (marfu) are also trustworthy, and their number is greater.As for the saying, "O sons of Faruq," this refers to the non-Arabs. They were given this name because of their great numbers around the Arabian Peninsula. Their origin is not known, because the non-Arabs, unlike the Arabs, did not concern themselves with tracing their lineages. It has also been said that they were descendants of Ibrahim who did not become Arabized, though I have found no basis for this.As for the saying, "If knowledge were as far away as the Pleiades, they would attain it," it has been reported in Sahih that the Messenger of Allah placed his hand on Salman Farsi and said, "Men, or a man, from among these people." This was narrated by Bukhari (4897) and Muslim (2546:231), and this supports what has already been mentioned. What the Prophet foretold indeed came to pass, for men from among the sons of the non-Arabs became renowned in tafsir, hadith, jurisprudence, language, and other fields.