In the formative period of Islam, clear exposition and discipline in speech lead to ?ilm (knowledge) of Prophetic tradition. Language is the channel to understand uninterrupted revelation. However, other non-verbal but communicative concepts such as istim??(listening) and ?amt (silence) are conveyed as methods for the attainment and ?alab (pursuit) of ?ilm, and as such, cognitive notions of learning. Istim?? enjoys considerably less scholarship than its correlative, predominant term sam??(reading certificate) of ?ad?th and its riw?ya (transmission). Sam?? is also a key concept in the formative period of ??f? literature (4/10ct. onwards) and the emergence of spiritual manifestations of ecstasy linked to music. Silence and its semantic root-derivations are attested in the Qur??n but it is mostly in early adab writings that silence is distinguished as a prerequisite of speech in exemplary, moral conduct. Overall, it can be argued that the study of silence in the formative period of Islam shows a significant shortcoming of studies. The textual evidence of istim?? and ?amt manifests in early mu?annafs (collections) of ?ad?th, in addition to adab prose and exegetical literature dedicated to akhl?q (morals). In this contribution, I will focus on a chosen selection of ?Abb?sid sources of the aforementioned literary frameworks that portray silence and listening as aural practices of ta?allum (instruction) and symmetrical manifestations in the dimension of social norms and etiquette. In my work that examines thematic knowledge and where ?ilm narratives are inserted in a phenomenological process of knowledge formation in premodern Arabic literature within the context of Late Antiquity, istim?? and ?amt represent global, timeless motivations for knowledge attainment. Current approaches in sound offer similar perspectives to istim??and ?amt as practices of exploration surrounding silence and listening. Drawing on the contributions of Gregor Schoeler, Ida Zilio-Grandi, Lawrence Kramer or Cecile Malaspina, I will argue that aural (audible or auditory) understandings of knowledge, sound and silence – and also noise – can open new platforms of transdisciplinary enquiry into two important but neglected concepts in classical Arabic literature.