sorrow, anger, longing, or the like, as someone said:

… Many a grey dove, calling in the morning,
Has sung from bough to bough.
Sometimes I weep, yet do not understand her;
She too may weep, yet does not understand me.
Yet through anguish I know her,
And through anguish she too knows me. …

The second occurs through a voice uttering words arranged in sequence, whether poetry or otherwise. The listener applies their meanings to his own condition, whether or not the poet and the reciter intended this. For example, the poetry may contain reproach and rebuke; an exhortation to endure blame for loving; censure for failing to fulfil the obligations of love; encouragement to pursue the rights allotted to a person; words stirring anger and zeal to struggle against the enemy and fight him; or a command to sacrifice one’s life and wealth to attain what is sought and win the beloved’s pleasure. There may also be other such general meanings, shared by those who love the Most Merciful, those who love idols, those who love their homelands, those who love women, those who love beardless youths, those who love their brethren, and those who love their intimate friends.

Sometimes the listener hears other words that the speaker did not utter, but which follow the same rhythmic pattern as his words. Thus, it is related that someone heard a person saying “sitr barrī,” but what reached his ears was “is‘a tara birrī”—“Strive, and you will see My kindness.”

Abū al-Qāsim mentioned this later, saying: “I heard Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn