Quotes from Abdullah ibn Mubarak

O man! Prepare yourself for the Hereafter, obey Allah to the extent of your need for Him and anger Him to the extent of your patience in Hell.

The beginning of knowledge is the intention, then listening, then understanding, then action, then preservation, and then spreading it.

We are a people in more need of a little character than we are in need of an abundance of knowledge.

Sins slowly suffocate the heart, and abandoning sins brings life to the heart.

I love the saliheen (pious people) even though I'm not one of them, and I hate the taliheen (evil people) even though I (may be) worse than them.

I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge.

How often it is that a small action becomes great by its intention. And how often it is that a great action becomes small by its intention.

I studied adab for thirty years and I studied knowledge for twenty years.