Original content

English translation

The masters, may God be pleased with them, have subtle sayings on this matter, more than this book could contain in their entirety; but what is possible I shall set down in this chapter, so that the benefit may be more complete. And God knows best.

Dhu'l-Nun says, may God's mercy be upon him: 'Audition (sama') is an inflowing from the Truth that stirs hearts toward the Truth; whoever listens to it in truth is verified, and whoever listens to it with the lower self (nafs) falls into heresy (zandaqa).'

Audition is an inflowing from the Truth that arouses hearts toward Him and makes them eager to seek Him. Whoever hears it in truth finds the way to the Truth, and whoever hears it with the lower self falls into heresy. What is meant by this is not that audition must be the cause of union with the Truth; rather, what is meant is that the listener hears through the truth of the meaning, not through the sound, and that his heart is the locus of the inflowing of the Truth. So when this meaning reaches the heart, it arouses the heart. He who therein follows the Truth becomes verified, and he who follows the lower self remains veiled and clings to (arbitrary) interpretation (ta'wil). Then the fruit of that audition is unveiling (kashf), while of this (other) audition it is concealment (satr).

Now 'zandaqa' is a Persian word made Arabic, and in the Persian tongue 'zand' means interpretation (ta'wil); for this reason they call the commentary of their book 'Zand and Pazand.' When the philologists wished to name the sons of the Magians—who are named alongside Babak and Afshin—they called them 'zindiq,' on the ground that they said that everything these Muslims utter is (arbitrary) interpretation which contradicts the outward ruling; and that revelation (tanzil) is entry into religion, while interpretation (ta'wil) is a stripping away from it. And today the remnant of them, the Shi'a of Egypt, say the same.

So Dhu'l-Nun's intent in this was that the people of realization become verified in audition, while the people of caprice become interpreters, who make far-fetched interpretations of it and thereby fall into iniquity.

Shibli says, may God be pleased with him: 'Audition—its outward is temptation (fitna) and its inward is admonition ('ibra); whoever knows the (spiritual) allusion, the hearing of admonition is lawful for him; otherwise he has invited temptation and exposed himself to affliction.'

The outward of audition is temptation and its inward is admonition. For him who is a person of allusion, the audition of admonition is lawful; otherwise it is the seeking of temptation and attachment to affliction. That is, for one whose heart is not wholly immersed in the discourse of the Truth, audition is his affliction and his place of ruin.

And Abu 'Ali al-Rudbari says, may God's mercy be upon him, in answer to the question of a man who asked him about audition: 'Would that we might escape from it, breaking even, head for head.'

Would that we might escape from this audition breaking even; because man is incapable of rendering the due (haqq) of all things, and when the due of something is missed, the servant sees his own shortcoming, and when he has seen his own shortcoming, would that he might be delivered.

And one of the masters says, may God have mercy on them: 'Audition is the awakening of the innermost secrets (asrar) to the hidden things within them.'

Audition is the making manifest of the innermost secrets, from things that necessitate absence (from all but God), so that thereby one is continually present with the Truth; for the absence of the secrets is, for the pretenders, the most blameworthy of attributes, because the friend, though absent from the friend, is (yet) present; for when absence comes, friendship departs.

And my master says, may God be pleased with him: 'Audition is the provision of those in dire need; whoever has arrived (at union) has no need of audition.'

Audition is the provision of those who remain behind; whoever has arrived has no need of audition, because in the station of union the ruling of hearing is deposed; for hearing is for report (khabar), and report is given of the absent. When direct vision (mu'ayana) occurs, audition dissolves.

And al-Husri says, may God's mercy be upon him: 'What shall I do with an audition that is cut off when the one from whom we hear falls silent? Your audition ought to be continuous, uninterrupted.'

What shall I do with an audition that is severed when the reciter falls silent? What shall I do? For it must be that audition is joined to audition, continuous, so that it is never cut off. This points to the concentration of aspiration (himma) in the garden of love, for when the servant reaches that degree, the whole world becomes his audition—from stone and clod. And this is a great degree. And God knows best what is right, and to Him is the return and the final destination.