Qays ibn Kathir reported that a man came to Abu Darda at Damascus from Madinah. He asked him, “What has brought you here O Brother. He said “I have come for a hadith which I have learnt that you narrate from Allah’s Messenger (SAW). He asked, “Have you come for no other purpose?’ He said, ‘No!” He asked, “Have you come for some business?” He said, “No! I have not come except to seek this hadith.” So, he (Abu Darda (RA) said, “I had heard Allah’s Messenger (SAW) say, He who travels on a path in search of knowledge will find that Allah causes him to travel on a path to Paradise. And the angels will lower their wings for the pleasure of the seeker of knowledge. And it is for the shcolar that all in the heavens and all on earth seek forgiveness so much so that fish is the water. And the excellence of a scholar over a worshipper is like the excellence of the moon over all the stars. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophet (SAW) and the Prophets do not leave dinar or dirham in legacy. They only leave knowledge. So, he who takes it indeed collects an abundant good fortune.”
[Ahmed 3641, Ibn Majah 223, Ahmed 21774]