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yuʾtī l-ḥikmata man yashāʾu wa-man yuʾta l-ḥikmata fa-qad ʾūtiya khayran kathīran wa-mā yadhdhakkaru ʾillā ʾulū l-ʾalbābi
He grants wisdom to whomever He wishes, and he, who is given wisdom, is certainly given an abundant good, and none takes admonition except those who possess intellect.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 269
269. "He grants wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been granted wisdom, indeed has been given abundant good; yet no one will mind but the possessors of intellects."
The Qur'anic term /hikmat/, here, has been rendered, into the sense of' knowledge, the cognition of secrets, awareness of facts, and reaching to reality'. Allah bestows it upon some persons for the sake of their piety, purity and their strive. They recognize the difference between the Satanic temptations and godly inspirations, false and true. None can benefit from this privilege, which is abundant good, save those who possess proper intelligence.
The Arabic term /albab/ is the plural form of /lubb/ in the sense of 'heart, love, intellect, and understanding'. Every man of wisdom is not counted among /ulul 'albab/, because this title is termed for only those men of understanding who utilize their intellect definitely to find out the path of real happiness in their lives. However, Imam Sadiq (as) in a tradition has said that /hikmat/ is 'knowledge and becoming learned in religion'; while another tradition indicates that / hikmat / is obedience to Allah and knowing Imam. 5
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