٢٦٥. وَقَالَ (عليه السلام): إِنَّ كَلاَمَ الْحُكَمَاءِ إذَا كَانَ صَوَاباً كَانَ دَوَاءً، وَإِذَا كَانَ خَطَأً كَانَ دَاءً.
265. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: When the utterance of the wise is to the point it serves as a cure, but if it is wrong it proves like an illness. [1]
Footnote :
[1] The group of the learned and reformers is responsible for improvement as well as deterioration because the common people are under their influence, and regard their words and action as correct and standard, rely on them and act upon them. In this way, if their teaching caters for improvement then thousands of individuals will acquire improvement and betterment thereby; but if there be evil in it then thousands of individuals will get involved in misguidance and get astrayed. That is why it is said: “When a scholar gets into evil the whole world gets into evil.”
[1] The group of the learned and reformers is responsible for improvement as well as deterioration because the common people are under their influence, and regard their words and action as correct and standard, rely on them and act upon them. In this way, if their teaching caters for improvement then thousands of individuals will acquire improvement and betterment thereby; but if there be evil in it then thousands of individuals will get involved in misguidance and get astrayed. That is why it is said: “When a scholar gets into evil the whole world gets into evil.”
