History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. 29, p. 257/258

Nobody seeks my help with a petition or offers an excuse that is more pressing than he, reminding me of a favor I did him so that it would be followed by its sister (i.e, one like it) and so good would be done to its asker because withholding of later things removes gratitude for earlier ones.

— Al-Tabari

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Nobody seeks my help with a petition or offers an excuse that is more pressing than he, reminding me of a favor I did him so that it would be followed by its sister (i.e, one like it) and so good would be done to its asker because withholding of later things removes gratitude for earlier ones." in the context of "History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. 29, p. 257/258" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Al-Tabari" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Al-Tabari

About Al-Tabari

Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazid al-Ṭabarī (/ˈtɑːbəri/; Persian: محمد بن جریر طبری‎, Arabic: أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري‎) (224–310 AH; 839–923 AD) was an influential Persian scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an from Amol, Tabaristan (modern Mazandaran Province of Iran), who composed all his works in Arabic. Today, he is most famous for his expertise in Qur'anic exegesis and Islamic jurisprudence but he has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath. He wrote on such subjects as world history, poetry, lexicography, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine." Al-Tabari's madhhab school flourished among Sunni ulama for two centuries after his death before it eventually became extinct. It was usually designated by the name Jariri.