Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī
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السيوطي:٧٠٨٦a –

"إِنَّ مَثَلَ الْعُلَمَاءِ فِى الأَرْضِ كَمَثَل النجوم فِى السَّمَاءِ يُهْتَدَى بها في ظُلُمَاتِ البرِّ والبحر فإِذا انْطَمَسَتْ النُّجُومُ أَوْشَكَ أَنْ تَضِلَّ الْهُدَاةُ".  

[حم] أحمد والرامهرمزى في الأَمْثَال عن أَنس

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Aḥmad
ahmad:12600 – Haytham b. Khārijah > Rishdīn b. Saʿd > ʿAbdullāh b. al-Walīd > Abū Ḥafṣ > Anas b. Mālik

[Machine] The Prophet ﷺ said, "The example of scholars on earth is like the example of stars in the sky. They are followed in the darkness of the land and sea. When the stars disappear, the guides are about to go astray."  

أحمد:١٢٦٠٠ – حَدَّثَنَا هَيْثَمُ بْنُ خَارِجَةَ حَدَّثَنَا رِشْدِينُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ عَنْ أَبِي حَفْصٍ حَدَّثَهُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَنَسَ بْنَ مَالِكٍ يَقُولُ

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ إِنَّ مَثَلَ الْعُلَمَاءِ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَثَلِ النُّجُومِ فِي السَّمَاءِ يُهْتَدَى بِهَا فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ فَإِذَا انْطَمَسَتِ النُّجُومُ أَوْشَكَ أَنْ تَضِلَّ الْهُدَاةُ