Scholarly respect

One of the things I find most admirable as I read some books about old Islamic scholars is the level of respect they had for each other even if they differed in opinion (I don't believe this to exclusive to "old" or "Islamic" scholars as I believe scholars of all disciplines, who respect their disciplines, show respect and admiration to each other).


This is a line from Imam Shafei talking about imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (2 founders of the 4 major Islamic schools of jurisprudence)


قالوا يزوركَ أحمد وتزورهُ
قلت الفضائل لا تفارق منزله


إن زارني فبفضله أو زرته
فلفضله، فالفضل في الحالين له


They say Ahmad visits you and you visit him
I said, virtue never parts with him


If he visits me it's because of his virtue
And if I visit him, it's for his virtue
So virtue is his in both cases


The beauty of this is that imam Shafei shows his own virtue by not only affirming the fact that the two scholars visit but by praising imam Ahmad and showing him the respect a scholar deserves