Knowledge is better than wealth: knowledge guards you, while you…
Quote
Knowledge is better than wealth: knowledge guards you, while you guard wealth.
Arabic original
العلم خير من المال: العلم يحرسك وأنت تحرس المال.
What it means
Possessions require protection and can be lost. Knowledge is an inner resource that helps a person understand, decide and respond. The saying contrasts what we own with what equips us for life.
The story behind this quote
The saying is transmitted as a maxim attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib. The linked passage reports it in a discussion of learning; it is not a manuscript by Ali.
The sentence reverses the roles: the keeper becomes the person being kept safe. That contrast makes the comparison memorable. In its transmitted context, knowledge is a form of wealth that accompanies its possessor and guides conduct beyond the protection of material property.
The source
نهج البلاغة, الحكمة 147، من كلامه لكميل بن زياد؛ وأورده الغزالي في إحياء علوم الدين، كتاب العلم, 1009
The text appears in the indicated source. A traditional attribution remains distinct from proof of authorship: see the context.
More quotes by Ali ibn Abi Talib
No one conceals something without its appearing in slips of the tongue and the features of the face.