ḥāl / aḥwāl (descending state; knowledge of states and descents; knowledge of state; sciences of states)
Aḥwāl (states) are conditions that befall the qalb (the heart), or to which the qalb is subject, such as the soundness of dhikr (remembrance of God).
The descending state (ḥāl-i nāzila) descends upon the qalb, but does not persist. It has been said: ḥāl is silent dhikr (Lumaʿ, 66).
Aḥwāl are the inheritance of deeds. None but those whose deeds are sound can inherit these states. The first condition for making deeds sound is to learn the knowledge pertaining to them. This is the knowledge of the sharia (the sacred law) rulings belonging to the sciences of fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh. This includes knowledge from prayer, fasting, and other obligations, to marriage, divorce, trade, transactions, and all matters that Allah the Exalted has made obligatory and encouraged, as well as the necessary needs of life. These are matters that are acquired through learning and striving. (Taʿarruf, 58)
ḥāl is a meaning that comes to the human qalb from Allah. When the influx (wārid) comes, the servant cannot repel it no matter how much he tries, and when it departs, he cannot bring it back no matter how much he strives.
Maqām (spiritual station) is the state of the murīd (aspirant, disciple) on the path of Sufism (taṣawwuf) and in striving for ittihād (union). It is attained through effort and striving. The degree of the maqām is as high as the servant's rank with Allah. ḥāl, on the other hand, is the grace and bounty of Allah to the servant's qalb. It is not attained by the servant's effort. For maqām is of deeds, while ḥāl is of gifts. Maqām is acquired (kasbī), while ḥāl is bestowed (wahbī). The possessor of maqām attains his station through his striving, while the possessor of ḥāl has become annihilated in his nafs (the lower self). His attainment of ḥāl is due to Allah the Exalted creating this state upon him. (Hujwīrī, 216)
ḥāl is that which comes to the moment (waqt); it adorns the moment like the ruh (the spirit) adorns the body. There is no doubt that the moment is always in need of ḥāl, for the purity of the moment is only possible through ḥāl, and its continuity is also by means of ḥāl. When the possessor of the moment is also a possessor of ḥāl, he is no longer subject to change and becomes steadfast in his moment. For disappearance is possible only for a moment without ḥāl. When ḥāl and the moment unite, all days become a single moment, and then disappearance is no longer possible. Everything that appears and disappears is subject to concealment and manifestation. The possessor of the moment is like this as well. For heedlessness is possible only for the possessor of the moment, not for the possessor of ḥāl.
It has been said: ḥāl is the purification of the tongue from all forms of bayān (clear exposition). The tongue of the possessor of ḥāl remains silent in expressing his state, in examining and speaking about it, and in dealings. For this reason, one of the shaykhs said: "It is impossible to ask about ḥāl, for in regard to ḥāl, verbal expression is impossible. For ḥāl is the annihilation (fanāʾ) of speech." (Hujwīrī, 447)
The section of aḥwāl (spiritual states) is divided into ten chapters. These are: maḥabba (love), ghayra (protective jealousy), longing (shawq), and so on.