Ibraaheem Ibn Abdul Waahid Al-Maqdisee (rahimahullaah) stated whilst advising Diyaa al-Maqdisee (rahimahullaah) when he (Diyaa) desired to travel and seek knowledge: ”Read the Qur’aan a lot and do not abandon it; for indeed it will make it easy for you to acquire (the knowledge) you seek in proportion to what you read.”  Diyaa (rahimahullaah) then said: ”I did see and experience (what Ibraaheem advised me); for when I used to read a lot of (Qur’aan), it was easy for me to listen and write down a lot of hadeeth.  And when I did not read (a lot), it was not easy for me.”

[Source: ذيل طبقات الحنابلةof Ibn Rajab (rahimahullaah) 3/205]