Ernest Psichari (1883-1914), a French writer, was in his youth a free-thinker and an atheist. But later he reverted to Christianity. Grandson of the famous historian, Ernest Renan, Psichari is ranked highly among those who made an effort to bring about a spiritual awakening in France at the turn of the twentieth century. One of his sayings has been rendered in English in these words:

“Silence is a bit of heaven that comes down to earth.”

Silence is the language of nature. When one observes silence one finds oneself at one with nature, and surely there is no higher plane on which the human soul may exist.

Man cannot, of course, remain silent in the absolute sense. When he appears to be silent, he is so for others, not for himself. Remaining silent as far as the external world goes, he starts conversing with his internal world.

Observing silence is a great act. When one is silent, one’s attention is diverted more to ‘heavenly’ matters than to ‘worldly’ ones. One’s ears are turned more to the whispers of angels than to those of men. Man’s focus becomes his own self rather than extraneous matters. He eschews superficiality and engages himself with deeper realities. When man speaks, he is in a limited domain, but when he is silent he finds himself in the unlimited vastness of the world.

Source: Spirit of Islam, February 2013