Imām Ibn al-Uthaymīn said in Kitāb al-ʿIlm: “Our elder teacher, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī (may Allāh have mercy on him), a true constant seeker of knowledge, told me:

It is reported about al-Kisāʾī, the Imām of the people of Kūfah in grammar, that he sought to learn the knowledge of Arabic grammar, but he could not achieve it.

One day, he saw an ant carrying food upon itself and it would climb up a wall with it; each time it climbed, it fell.

However, it persevered against this obstacle until it climbed the wall. So al-Kisāʾī said: “This ant remained steadfast until it reached its goal.” He then resolved firmly to persist, and by that, he persevered until he became an imām in grammar.”