مَنْ طَلَبَ الْعِلْمَ، لِيُجَارِيَ بِهِ الْعُلَمَاءَ، أَوْ لِيُمَارِيَ بِهِ السُّفَهَاءَ، أَوْ يَصْرِفَ بِهِ وُجُوهَ النَّاسِ إِلَيْهِ، أَدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ النَّارَ
Translation: Whoever seeks knowledge to compete boastfully with scholars, argue with the foolish, or turn people’s attention toward himself is warned that Allah will admit him to the Fire.
Source: الترمذي
طَلَبَ الْعِلْمَ means “sought knowledge.” The lām of purpose in لِيُجَارِيَ and لِيُمَارِيَ tells us *why*: to boast competitively before scholars or quarrel with the foolish. يَصْرِفَ ... وُجُوهَ النَّاسِ إِلَيْهِ describes drawing others’ attention toward oneself.
Knowledge is valuable, but using it for vanity, domination, or belittling others corrupts its purpose. A respectful academic disagreement or correcting a genuine mistake is not the same as an argument designed merely to display superiority.