It was reported from Al-Hasan Al-Lului, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: Forty years of my life elapsed, and I never got up or slept ecept that a !oo" is on my chest#$ %thers used to sleep with their note!oo"s surrounding their !ed& they wouldread from them when they awo"e from sleep, and !efore sleeping# Al-Haa'th Al-(hatee! Al-)aghdaadi, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to wal" with a volume, in his hand, while reading it# *ome other scholars used to give a condition to those who invited them that they should have a place in the assem!ly to place a !oo" so that they could read it# Actually, some of them would even !urn their tur!ans with the lantern that they had placed !efore them for reading, without "nowing it until strands of their hair were !urnt# +pg ,- A!u Al-.A!!aas Al-/u!arrid may Allaah haver mercy on him, said: I have never seen any people more "een on "nowledge than three individuals: Al-0aahith 1 and hewas a /uta2ili person of innovation, Al-Fat-h i!n (haa3aan, and Ismaaeel i!n Is-haa3 Al-4aadhi# As for Al-0aahith, when he would place a !oo" !efore him, he wouldread it from !eginning to end, regardless of the !oo"# As for Al-Fat-h, he used to carry a !oo" in his slipper# 5hen he would go !efore Al-/utawa""il to urinate or pray, he would remove the !oo" and read while wal"ing, until he reached the place he needed to go, then would do the same on the way !ac", until he reached his area of sitting# As for Ismaaeel i!n Is-haa3, then I never entered on him at all, ecept that he had a !oo" that he was reading, or was 6ipping through !oo"s to 'nda !oo" to read#$ +pg ,-I!n Al-0aw2i, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: 5hile informing of myself, I can never have my 'll of reading !oo"s# If I 'nd a !oo" that I have not read yet, then it is as if I have come across a treasure# If I were to sa that I have read twenty-thousand volumes, it would have !een even more than that, and I am still see"ing "nowledge#$ +pg ,-%thers said: If I 'nd a !oo" to !e good and hoped that it would !e !ene'cial, and found that it was actually !ene'cial, I would constantly loo" at how much there was left, out of fear of 'nishing the !oo"#$ +pg 7-8he /uslim reads for the following reasons:- 8o earn reward for reading, such as when reading the 9o!le 4uraan#- 8o learn religious sciences and gain understanding of their religion#- )y repetition in reading, one can memori2e#- 8o learn of the plots of the dis!elievers, and to !eware of the dou!ts of the hypocrites and deviants#- 8o develop their linguistic a!ilities and to earn !ene'cial "nowledge of this world#- 8o "eep themselves !usy away from false practices, !ecause if you do not "eep your soul !usy with o!edience, it will "eep you !usy with diso!edience#- 8o rela and !e at ease in doing a lawful action# +pg ::-A!u Al-)ara"aat, may Allaah have mercy on him, the grandfather of *hay"h Al-Islaam I!n 8aymiyah, may Allaah have mercy on him, when he wanted to shower, hewould order a reader to read to him and raise his voice, so that he could listen and !ene't# 8his is how one is "een on preserving their time# +pg ;:-8he stages that a person goes through in developing a reading ha!it, in general are the following stages:- /a"ing reading !eloved to the soul and drawing close to !oo"s:rophet, sallallaahu .alayhi wa sallam, and stories#- *erious reading:8his needs a great deal of patience and forcing oneself to !e patient# In the !eginning, the reader often feels that they have very little !ene't, and that is !ecause they are reading topics that they have passed over for their 'rst time# 8his re3uires some patience in understanding and digesting the information# However, the reader must not get !ored, for one must !e constant in order to !e steadfast on the path#- Achievement reading:8his is where the reader reaches a high level of understanding of what is !eing read,as a result of their consistency and endurance# 8hey overcome impediments, to the point that they understand most of what they read and can com!ine old and new information# At this point, they !egin to feel enriched in "nowledge#- ?ritical reading:In this stage, the milstegones of the learned methodology !eings complete and cclear to the /uslim reader, and in this stage, the scales of religion, a!ility to assess, criti3ue, and =udge !ecome developed# )ased on this, they can di@erentiate !etween the mista"es of writers, and discern slips and deviations# As a result, they can read everything they pass over#- Investigative reading:In this stage, the reader proceeds into the vast hori2ons of the wolrd of reading, after they have learned the fundamentals of "nowledge with precision# 8hey can enter the world of !oo"s !y reading even the voluminous !oo"s, as well as other !oo"s# +pg ;A-;,-It is mentioned that I!n .A!!aas, may Allaah !e pleased with him, whenever there would !e any !oredom in his class would say: )ring me the divans of the poets#$ Also, /uhammad i!n Al-Hasan, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to rarely sleep at night, and would have note!oo"s !esides him# If he would !ecome !ored from one topic, he would loo" and read into another one# He used to place water !esides him that he, may Allaah have mercy on him, would use to remove sleepiness# +pg BA-B,-Al-)u"haari, may Allaah have mercy on him, was as"ed a!out the reason !ehind his memori2ation, and he said: I do not "now of anything more !ene'cial for memory than desire of a man and constant referral and reading#$ +pg B,-*ome have said that if they read a new !oo" for the 'rst time, they feel as though they have ac3uired a new friend, and when they read it a second time, it is as if they meet an old friend# +pg B,-*ome people of "nowledge said: It has !een told me regarding some *hay"h that he said: .I saw in one of the towns of 9a!atene a young !oy who spea"s elo3uently and epresses himself well# I as"ed him regarding his elo3uence, despite the dialectof his own people, and he said: .I used to underta"e reading 'fty pages from the !oo" of Al-0aahith and would raise my voice when reading, and it was only a short time that passed until I was as you see now#$ +pg CA-C,- A!u Haamid, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to say to his companions: If you study, then raise your voices, !ecause it helps ma"e what you memori2e 'rmer and "eeps you away from sleep !etter#$ +pg C,-In order to "eep the !oo" in good condition, one should avoid the conditions that ma"e the !oo" suscepti!le to damage or tearing, such as:- >lacing the !oo" upside down or leaving it open for long periods of time#- %pening the !oo" too vigorously, ru!!ing the !oo" with ones hand, or wetting the 'ngers too much with saliva !efore chaning the page#- >lacing the !oo"s on top of each other& they should actually !e !eside each other#- >lacing large !oo"s on top of small !oo"s& this leads to it falling and their covers coming o@#- >lacing the !oo" in a leaning way in the !oo"shelf& it should !e placed in an upright positon#- Dsing the !oo" as a pillow, fan, compressor, support, something to recline on, !ug "iller, or ta!le for food or drin"s# %ne of the wise man saw a man sitting on a !oo", and he said: Elori'ed is AllaahF He protects his clothes, !ut not his !oo"& protectingthe !oo" is preferred over protecting the clothes#$ %ne should protect the !oo" fromanything that falls on it, in terms of food or drin"s, especially during travel, trips, and reading at the dinner ta!le# - 8hrowing the !oo" or tossing it from a height& rather, one must place it !y hand, so that it does not get torn# 8his is a mista"e that many students and teachers fall into, especially when passing !oo"s and note!oo"s of students around#+pg GH-A:-5a"ee, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: 8he 'rst !lessing of Hadeeth is !orrowing !oo"s#$ +pg AH-Ioonus i!n Jayd, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: A2-Juhri said to me: .Ioonus, !eware of ta"ing !oo"s illegally# I said: .5hat does that meanK He said: .Holding them !ac" from their owners#$ +pg AH-*ufyaan, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: Lo not allow anyone to !orrow your !oo"#$ +pg AH-*ome said: Lo not lend your !oo" unless you "now that the one you lend to is of "nowledge and religion#$ +pg ,M-*ome, when as"ed to !orrow a !o"o, would say: *how me your !oo"s,$ and if they 'nd them preserved and cherished, they would lend it to them, !ut if they found them dusty or changed in 'gure, they would refrain# +pg ,M-