Abdullah bin Yahya showed the visitor a manuscript written by himself. He pointed out: “There’s a mistake here!” Abdullah bin Yahya crossed out the indicated word and wrote it again - as the guest suggested.
When the visitor left, Abdullah was asked:
- Why did you do this, knowing that the correction was erroneous, and entered the wrong word in the place of the correct one?
He replied:
- This was required by the situation of observing social conventions. This man mistakenly believed that he was helping me. He thought that the expression of his ignorance was evidence of his knowledge. In this case, I observed social norms of good manners and politeness and did not pursue the interests of truth. If I acted as a mentor to this person, then everything would be different. Only dullards and bores imagine that it is their duty to instruct everyone. People are not at all looking for instructions, but, as a rule, they just want to attract attention to themselves.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru