Knowledge is power
The earliest documented occurrence of the phrase "Knowledge is power" is from Imam Ali (599-661 CE), as recorded in the tenth-century book Nahj Al-Balagha (originally in Arabic). He said:
Knowledge is power and it can command obedience. A man of knowledge during his lifetime can make people obey and follow him and he is praised and venerated after his death. Remember that knowledge is a ruler and wealth is its subject.
— Imam Ali, Nahj Al-Balagha, Saying 146
Another account of this concept is found in the Shahnameh by the Persian poet Ferdowsi (940–1020 CE) who wrote: "Capable is he who is wise" (in Persian: توانا بود هر که دانا بود).[1] This hemistich is translated to English as "knowledge is power" or "One who has wisdom is powerful".[2]
Ferdowsi (940-1020), born in N.E. Iran in his book Shahnameh (Letter of Kings), wrote: "Your power comes from your knowledge" توانا بود هر که دانا بود (Farsi). This book was written when Persia was under the Arab occupation, and the Persians were forbidden to use their own language. Shahnameh was written in Farsi in order to preserve the language and culture.
A proverb in practically the same wording is found in Hebrew, in the Biblical Book of Proverbs (24:5): גֶּבֶר-חָכָם בַּעוֹז; וְאִישׁ-דַּעַת, מְאַמֶּץ-כֹּחַ. This was translated in the latin Vulgata as "vir sapiens et fortis est et vir doctus robustus et validus"[3] and in the King James Version, the first English official edition, as "A wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increaseth strength".[4]
Knowledge is power and it can command obedience. A man of knowledge during his lifetime can make people obey and follow him and he is praised and venerated after his death. Remember that knowledge is a ruler and wealth is its subject.
— Imam Ali, Nahj Al-Balagha, Saying 146
Another account of this concept is found in the Shahnameh by the Persian poet Ferdowsi (940–1020 CE) who wrote: "Capable is he who is wise" (in Persian: توانا بود هر که دانا بود).[1] This hemistich is translated to English as "knowledge is power" or "One who has wisdom is powerful".[2]
Ferdowsi (940-1020), born in N.E. Iran in his book Shahnameh (Letter of Kings), wrote: "Your power comes from your knowledge" توانا بود هر که دانا بود (Farsi). This book was written when Persia was under the Arab occupation, and the Persians were forbidden to use their own language. Shahnameh was written in Farsi in order to preserve the language and culture.
A proverb in practically the same wording is found in Hebrew, in the Biblical Book of Proverbs (24:5): גֶּבֶר-חָכָם בַּעוֹז; וְאִישׁ-דַּעַת, מְאַמֶּץ-כֹּחַ. This was translated in the latin Vulgata as "vir sapiens et fortis est et vir doctus robustus et validus"[3] and in the King James Version, the first English official edition, as "A wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increaseth strength".[4]
