The reciters of the Qur’an are of three types:

1. Those who take it as merchandise with which they ply their trade.




2. Those who recite its words but fail to comply with its injunctions, they use it to lord over the people of their land and rely on it to ascend to positions of authority.  There are many who fall into this category, may Allah make their number small!




3. Those who treat the Qur’an as a cure and apply it to heal the ailments of the hearts.  They recite it in their places of devotion and attain tranquility, they weep in their hooded cloaks, and they are overcome with fear and somberness.  It is for their sake that Allah sends down the rain and it is through them that Allah confers victory against the enemy.  By Allah this category is rarer than red gold.

—al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī [d 110H/728CE]

[Ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Hamm wa’l-Huzn #152 / Bayhaqi, Shu’ab #2621]

(Read on pg 86, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri, The Journey of the Strangers. Daar as-Sunnah Publishers. Birmingham: 2009.)