Not Everyone Should Be a Very Close Friend

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:

A person who understands things properly will not consider [just anyone] to be a very close, trusted friend unless [he’s] someone with superior insight, religion, [Islāmic] knowledge, and good character traits, someone with good understanding who has grown up with righteous people–because being friends with a slow-witted person who grew up among people with good understanding is better than being friends with an intelligent person who grew up among the ignorant.

Rawḍah Al-ʿUqalāʾ, p. 90, as quoted by Shaikh ʿAbdullāh Al-Bukhārī.