Qalbic Listening
Assalaamu’alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh dearest companions,
We pray that you are well.
The brothers were on a hike with Shaykh Mokhtar. He paused at a stream and so did the others. He informed the brothers that there were actually two streams if they listened closely as one was not in direct view.
Shaykh Mokhtar and the brothers walked to another spot and Shaykh Mokhtar pointed out that he could now hear three streams.
One of the brothers could not hear all three. Shaykh Mokhtar took a step forward. That same brother, standing behind Shaykh Mokhtar, did so as well and he could also then hear all three distinctly when he listened intently for each one.
This brother remarked in a midday majlis with the Shaykh how he learned so much from the Shaykh by his actions and without any spoken instruction, walhamdullillaah.
The brother said he struggles to hear the different calls inside of him. He struggles to differentiate them – nafs, qalb, ruh and shaytan… Often, it is only that which makes the loudest sound inside of him that he hears and follows, he asserted.
How, he asked, can we learn to hear and differentiate what is hidden within our inner world to then act only on what pleases Allah?
Below, you’ll find the response from Shaykh Mokhtar as well as a recording of one of the streams. Please forgive the poor quality of the recording.
May Allah open up for us the hearing channels of our hearts and may we learn to shun the negative discourse inside us, fight the incessant calls to what He does not have hubb-love for and listen and take heed to the messages He sends inside of us. Amin.
Response by Shaykh Mokhtar:
The sound of the stream:
