But if he meets with people for a purpose other than listening—whether he visits them or they visit him—and they recite something, it may be said that he has encountered the listening incidentally, since he neither went to it nor sought it out. On the other hand, it may be said that his attending to it and deliberately listening to the voice makes him an intentional listener, rather than someone who encounters it incidentally.

Allah Most High says:
“He has already revealed to you in the Book that when you hear Allah’s revelations being denied and ridiculed, do not sit with them until they turn to another subject; otherwise, you would be like them.”
[Surah al-Nisāʾ 140]

Thus, He placed the person who sits and listens on the same footing as the speaker.

The most that can be said, then, is that al-Junayd meant this situation by an incidental encounter. Yet even though he called it refreshment, he did not make it a cause for mercy. At most, this would mean that it is permissible—not that it is good, a mercy, or recommended. Discussing whether it is permissible or forbidden is different from discussing its goodness, soundness, benefit, or status as an act of drawing near to Allah and obeying Him. Al-Junayd said none of these things.

To say, “Mercy descends upon those engaged in listening,” if listening to poems is intended, implies that it is good and beneficial in religion. Al-Junayd’s words explicitly indicate the contrary.

Abū al-Qāsim said: “Al-Shiblī was asked about listening and replied, ‘Its outward aspect is temptation, and its inward aspect is a lesson. Whoever understands the allusion may lawfully listen for the lesson it conveys; otherwise, he has invited temptation and exposed himself to affliction.’”