Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

538 Financial andjudiciary institutions at the time of 'Ali
All the factors outlined above formed a strong basis that
resulted in deep and solid understanding on the part of the
Companions of the Prophet (@). After mentioning their unique
understanding, which resulted from their hearing from the Prophet
(g), their listening to the narrations of one another and their
knowledge of Arabic in the most perfect manner, Ibn al-Qayyim said:
"If we compare our understanding to theirs, there is no doubt that
they were more sincere at heart, had deeper knowledge, were more
straightforward and were more likely to understand the text more
correctly than we can do, because Allah (s) blessed them with
smarter minds, more eloquence, deeper knowledge, a more
straightforward approach to the text, proper and quick understanding,
little or no impact from other influences, good intentions and fear of
the Lord. The Arabic language came naturally to them, and the
correct meanings and concepts were instilled in their hearts and
mnds. They had no need to examine the chains of narration and
background of the narrators to see if there were any faults in the
hadith or to assess the quality of the nmtors or to exmne the
fundamentals of the branches of knowledge and the different views
of the experts on the principles of Islamic law. They had no need of
all of that. For them there were only two steps to follow:
(i) Allah (&) said such and such, and His Messenger said
such and such.
(ii) What it means is such and such.
They were the most capable of people to go through these two steps
easily, and they were the most qualified because all of their energy,
knowledge and quality was focused on these two things only. In
comparison, the energies and focus of the later scholars were
scattered. Studying the Arabic language and matters connected to it
took up a great deal of their intellectual efforts. Understanding the
fundamentals of different branches of knowledge took up fnrther