He, exalted be He, also says in Fussilat: “Those who disbelieve say, ‘Do not listen to this Quran, and drown it out with noise so that you may prevail’” (Fussilat 41:26). And He says in al-Muddaththir: “So what is the matter with them that they turn away from the Reminder, as though they were startled donkeys fleeing from a lion?” (Al-Muddaththir 74:49-51). Verses of this tenor are many in the Quran.
This is the samāʿ that characterized the first generations of the ummah and its greatest shaykhs and imams—the Companions, the Followers, and those who came after them among the masters of the path, such as Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī, Maʿrūf al-Karkhī, Yūsuf ibn Asbāṭ, Hudhayfa al-Marʿashī, and the like.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb would say to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, “Abū Mūsā, remind us of our Lord,” whereupon Abū Mūsā would recite while they listened and wept. Whenever the Companions of Muhammad gathered, they would appoint one of them to recite the Quran and the rest would listen.
It is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once passed by Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī while he was reciting, and the Prophet stopped to listen. He said, “He has indeed been given one of the flutes of the family of David.” On another occasion he told him, “I walked past you last night while you were reciting, and I remained listening to your recitation.” Abū Mūsā replied, “Had I known you were listening, I would have adorned it for you with even greater beauty,” meaning: I would have embellished it further.
He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Beautify the Quran with your voices,” and he said, “Allah listens more attentively to a man with a beautiful voice reciting the Quran than the owner of a songstress listens to her singing”—“listens more attentively” meaning listens eagerly, as in His saying, “and has hearkened to its Lord, and it must do so” (Al-Inshiqāq 84:2).
He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “Allah has never listened to anything as He listens to a prophet with a melodious voice who chants the Quran aloud,” and, “Whoever does not chant the Quran is not one of us.”
For this reason samāʿ yields tremendous spiritual ecstasies, noble tastes, increase in gnosis, and weighty spiritual states—realities too expansive for speech to encompass or a book to contain. Likewise, pondering and understanding the Quran brings about added knowledge and faith that no description can fully convey.
One must also take note that Allah, glorified be He, says in His Book: “Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you’” (Āl ʿImrān 3:31). A number of the early scholars said that some people in the Prophet’s time (peace and blessings be upon him) claimed to love Allah, so Allah revealed this verse, thereby showing that loving Him necessitates following the Messenger, and that following the Messenger brings about Allah’s love for the servant. Thus Allah tested those who laid claim to loving Him, for this field abounds in claims and ambiguities.
It is related from Dhū’l-Nūn al-Miṣrī that when people began discussing the matter of love in his presence he said, “Be silent about this love; do not let the souls hear of it lest they claim it.” Someone else said, “Whoever worships Allah by love alone is a heretic; whoever worships Him by fear alone is a Ḥarūrī; whoever worships Him by hope alone is a Murjiʾī; but whoever worships Him with love, fear, and hope together is a true believer and a monotheist.”
The reason is that unalloyed love makes the soul relax and roam freely in its desires if it is not restrained by awe of Allah—so much so that the Jews and the Christians said