The sound of the abstract is called anahad in the Veda, meaning unlimited sound. The Sufis name it sarmad, which suggests the idea of intoxication. The word intoxication is here used to signify upliftment, the freedom of the soul from its earthly bondage. Those who are able to hear the Saut-e-Sarmad and meditate on it are relieved from all worries, anxieties, sorrows, fears and diseases, and the soul is freed from captivity in the senses and in the physical body. The soul of the listener becomes the all-pervading consciousness, and his spirit becomes the battery which keeps the whole universe in motion.

Some train themselves to hear the Saut-e-Sarmad in the solitude, on the sea shore, on the river bank and in the hills and dales; others attain it while sitting in the caves of the mountains, or when wandering constantly through forests and deserts, keeping themselves in the wilderness apart from the haunts of men. Yogis and ascetics blow sing - a horn, or shanka - a shell, which awakens in them this inner tone. Dervishes play nai or alghoza - a double flute - for the same purpose. The bells and gongs in the churches and temples are meant to suggest to the thinker the same sacred sound, and thus lead him towards the inner life.

This sound develops through ten different aspects because of its manifestation through ten different tubes of the body. It sounds like (1) thunder, (2) the roaring of the sea, (3) the jingling of bells, (4) running water, (5) the buzzing of bees, (6) the twittering of sparrows, (7) the vina, (8) the whistle, (9) the sound of shanka - until it finally becomes (10) Hu, the most sacred of all sounds.