بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
•••
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

عن ابن القيم قَالَ وَقَالَ لِي شَيْخَ الْإِسْلَامِ ابْنَ تَيْمِيَّةَ رحمه الله مَرَّةً مَا يَصْنَعُ أَعْدَائِي بِي أَنَا جَنَّتِي وَبُسْتَانِي فِي صَدْرِي أَيْنَ رُحْت فَهِيَ مَعِي لَا تُفَارِقُنِي أَنَا حَبْسِي خَلْوَةٌ وَقَتْلِي شَهَادَةٌ وَإِخْرَاجِي مِنْ بَلَدِي سِيَاحَةٌ
1/48 الوابل الصيب من الكلم الطيب
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Ibn al-Qayyim reported: Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me once, “What can my enemies do to me? My paradise and my garden are in my heart wherever I go and they are never separated from me. If I am imprisoned, then it is seclusion for worship. If I am killed, then it is martyrdom. If they expel me from my land, then it is tourism.”
Source: al-Wābil al-Ṣayyib 1/48

وقد قيل: "من دخل في العلم وحده؛ خرج وحده"؛ أي: من دخل في طلب العلم بلا شيخ؛ خرج منه بلا علم، إذ العلم صنعة، وكل صنعة تحتاج إلى صانع، فلا بد إذاً لتعلمها من معلمها الحاذق.
•••
And it has been said: "He who enters into knowledge alone; exits alone,” That is, he who enters in the pursuit of knowledge without a sheikh. He came out of it without knowledge, for knowledge is a work, and every craft needs a maker, so it is necessary to learn it from its skilled teacher.

قال الإمام الشافعي رحمه الله:
شَكَوتُ إِلى وَكيعٍ سوءَ حِفظي
فَأَرشَدَني إِلى تَركِ المَعاصي
وَأَخبَرَني بِأَنَّ العِلمَ نورٌ
وَنورُ اللَهِ لا يُهدى لِعاصي
•••
Imam ash-Shaafi`ee once said: I complained to Wakee` (a famous scholar from the Salaf and one of the teachers of ash-Shaafi`ee) about my poor memory. So he advised me to abandon the disobedience of Allah, and said: “know that knowledge is light. And the light of Allah is not bestowed upon a disobedient”.

قال ‏ابن العباس رضي الله عنه:
‎
لا تجالس أهل الأهواء فإن مجالستهم ممرضة للقلوب
•••
Ibn Abbaas (رضي الله عنه) said:

‎“Do not sit with the people of desires (i.e. ahlul bidah) for indeed sitting with them will cause sickness to the hearts.”

‎[Al-Ibaanah 2/438]

I am poor (Poem written in Prison) Ibn Taymiyyah ‏رحمه الله
‏أنا الفقير (قصيدة مكتوبة في السجن) ‏شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله
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Good people come, and all they strived for was knowledge of the deen, they packed for the hereafter and left nothing but the knowledge, which they learnt, understood, worked on, and spread.

Best Way To Preserve ʿIlm

‏قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:
Prophet Muḥammad Ṣallallāhu-ʿAlaihi Wa Sallam said:

قيدوا العلم بالكتاب
“Capture knowledge by writing (it down).”

● [مختصر صحيح الجامع الصغير برقم ٤٤٣٤، صححه الألباني]

عَنْ صُهَيْبٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ
•••
Narrated that Suhayb (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.”
Muslim (2999)

لا يكفي أن الإنسان يعلم ويتعلم بل لا بد ان يعمل بعمله، ‏فالعلم بدون عمل إنما هو حجة ‏على الإنسان، فلا يكون العلم نافعاً إلا بالعقل، أما من عَمِلَ ولم يعمل فهذا ‏مغضوب عليه ‏لانه عرف الحق وتركه في بصرة
[شرح ‏الأصول الثلاثة شيخ الفوزان ص ٢٤]
•••
Knowledge will not be beneficial except with action. As for the person who has knowledge, and he does not act upon it, then he is one upon whom is Anger, because he knows the truth, but he abandons it upon knowledge and insight.
[The Three Fundamental Principles Shaykh Fawzan Explanation pg 15]

The poem that made Imām Ahmad رحمه الله weep, "إذا ما قال لي ربي”.

You can find this poem mentioned by Imām al-Hāfidh Abu’l Faraj ibn al-Jawzī [d.597 AH] رحمه الله in his book Talblīs Iblīs p.219.