“Knowledge is light.”

The phrase comes from al-Shafi‘i’s best-known lines of verse, addressed to his teacher Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah: “I complained to Waki‘ of my poor memory, and he directed me to give up disobedience — and he told me that knowledge is a light, and the light of Allah is not given to one who disobeys.” The saying is usually quoted without the argument it belonged to.