“A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.”

Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih gives it in al-‘Iqd al-Farid as a common saying — “a wise enemy is dearer to me than an ignorant friend” — and Ibn al-Qayyim quotes it in this form in Ighathat al-Lahfan: “whoever said it spoke the truth.” The sting is in what it assumes: harm from someone who means well is harm you do not guard against.