it to you when it was revealed to you?”
He answered, “I like to hear it from someone other than myself.”
So I recited Sūrah al-Nisāʾ to him, and when I reached the verse,

“How then will it be when We bring from every community a witness, and We bring you as a witness against these?” (4:41),

he said, “That is enough,” and I saw that his eyes were streaming with tears.

This kind of listening is the listening of the prophets and their followers, as Allah has related in the Qur’an:

“These are the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace: the prophets from the descendants of Adam, of those We carried with Noah, from the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those We guided and chose. Whenever the revelations of the All-Merciful are recited to them, they fall down in prostration, weeping.” (19:58)

Of the people of true knowledge He says:

“When they hear what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they have recognized.” (5:83)

The Exalted praised those who listen in this manner for the increase in faith, the goose-flesh of their skin, and the tears of their eyes, saying: