and this is further shown by the fact that listening to melodies nourishes the ignorant more than it nourishes those endowed with knowledge. Children, animals, and women likewise find nourishment in it, and it is especially prevalent among desert dwellers, Bedouins, and all whose understanding and knowledge are weak, as can be observed.

This is not so, however, with listening prescribed by religious law: it is wholesome nourishment for those endowed with knowledge, as Allah tells us:

“When they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognized.”

[Sūrah al-Mā’idah 83]

Abū al-Qāsim then quoted Abū ‘Alī al-Daqqāq: “Listening is mere natural inclination unless grounded in religious law, folly unless grounded in truth, and a trial unless grounded in reflection.” These are sound words, which we have already cited. He describes whatever is not prescribed by religious law as arising from natural inclination; it is therefore not praiseworthy or commendable in religion and the path to Allah.

His words, “folly unless grounded in truth, and a trial unless grounded in reflection,” imply that if it is not grounded in truth, it is blameworthy, and if it is not grounded in reflection, it is a trial. This is correct. It does not follow, however, that everything thought to offer a lesson or to be grounded in truth is recommended when it is not prescribed by religious law, for he has already said that it is “mere natural inclination unless grounded in religious law.”

Abū al-Qāsim said: “It is said that listening is of two kinds: listening on condition of