“The best companion in life is a book.”

The line is al-Mutanabbi’s (303–354 AH / 915–965 CE), the most quoted poet in the Arabic language, and the full verse pairs two goods against each other: “the noblest place in the world is the saddle of a swift horse, and the best companion of the age is a book.” It survives as a proverb because the second half outlived the first.