Allah the Exalted narrated the story of His Friend (Khalīl), namely Abraham (peace be upon him), as follows: When the night grew dark upon him, he saw a star and said, "This is my Lord." (In the dictionary, ataş, which literally means thirst or to be thirsty,) is a metaphor for the overwhelming dominance of intense longing for the desired object. There are three degrees of this: The first degree is the ataş of the murīd (aspirant, disciple) for a shāhid (witness, sign) that will quench his thirst, or for an ishāra (spiritual indication) that will grant him healing, or for something that will extinguish his thirst. The second degree is the ataş of the sālik (spiritual traveler) for an appointed term (to reach the Beloved through the state of fanāʾ [annihilation in God]), for the day that will make him self-sufficient, and for the station (maqām) of rest (the rank of ginā, spiritual sufficiency) where he will find repose.
The third degree is the ataş of the muḥibb (lover), in which there remains no cloud belonging to the nafs (the lower self) behind him, no veil of separation that can cover, and (since all veils are lifted) no expectation remains. (Manāzil, 33-34)
Ataş (thirst) is related to spiritual states (aḥwāl). It is the thirst of the sālik to reach the sought-after (maṭlūb) and to find relief by beholding the Beloved (maḥbūb). In the beginning (bidāya), it is the thirst of the murīd for the shāhids required by certainty (yaqīn) and for purification from doubts and suspicions that corrupt it. In the abwāb (spiritual doors), it is the thirst to attain the nearness-bestowing favors and the calming gifts. In muʿāmalāt (spiritual dealings), it is the thirst for uprightness, reliance upon Allah (tawakkul), and reaching safety. In akhlāq (character), it is the thirst to be accepted (by Him) and to attain salvation from remoteness from Allah. In adwiya (spiritual remedies), it is the thirst for the loftiness of himma (spiritual aspiration), and for the thought to reach its unique aim and degree. In walāya (sainthood), it is the thirst to behold the attributes and to be delivered from the maqām of talwīn (changeability), and to attain the maqām of tamkīn (firm establishment) by beholding the Divine Essence (Dhāt). In ḥaqāʾiq (realities), it is the thirst to reach ittiṣāl (union) by being delivered from separation. In nihāya (the end), it is the jalwa (manifestation) in which no veil intervenes—that is, being with the Truth (al-Ḥaqq) while among people—and the jamʿ (union) in which no separation occurs. (Jāmiʿ, 293)