Imam Shafi's mother was someone who had high aspirations for her child. At the age of two, she took him on a journey to Makkah to begin his studies. Imam Shafi' at one point, was away from home for 2 years, studying and teaching elsewhere. He decided later to return home to his mother, and when he reached the house, he knocked on the door.
She asked: "What are you coming back with?" (i.e - what have you learnt/become?)
He replied: "I have come with knowledge (ilm) and mannerisms (adab)."
She then said: "Go back, for you haven't come back with anything."
Imam Shafi' was surprised. His mother had exerted so much effort into his learning, and he had done his utmost best, yet she had failed to recognise it. So he went to Imam Malik and told him what his mother had said.
Imam Malik replied to him with the most beautiful words:
"When you go back, tell her you've come back with mannerisms (adab) and knowledge (ilm.)" (i.e - adab - good character *always* comes before knowledge)
And so he did, and his mother opened the door and took him into her embrace.
You know... they say, "Behind every great man is a woman"? Imam Shafi's uprbinging reminds me of just that.
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