Thirst (ataş), ecstasy (wajd), awe (dahsh), hayamān (passionate longing, intense love, overwhelming excitement), lightning (barq), and taste (dhawq) are all included. (Manāzil, 32)
Spiritual states (aḥwāl) are specific to the friends of God (walī / awliyāʾ), while spiritual stations (maqāmāt) are specific to the abdāl. (Futūḥ, 21)
All states are constriction (qabḍ). This is because the walī is obliged to preserve it. Every state that is commanded to be preserved is a state of qabḍ. Complete submission to destiny is entirely a state of expansion (basṭ). For in this case, apart from what exists in destiny, there is nothing else that is commanded to be preserved. One should not oppose destiny. One must show riḍā (contentment with God's decree) towards every aspect of destiny, whether bitter or sweet. Since states are limited, it is commanded that these limits be preserved. Grace—which is destiny—is not limited, so there is no command to preserve it. (Futūḥ, 125)
States are the transactions of the qalb (the heart). They are the clarity (ṣafā) of the dhikr (remembrances) that come to the qalb. Junayd said: A ḥāl is a spiritual effusion that descends upon the qalb but does not persist. The states are as follows:
Murāqaba (spiritual vigilance) is to look at things pertaining to the unseen with pure certainty.
Qurb (nearness) is to gather one's himma (spiritual focus) in the presence of Allah, absent from all else.
Maḥabba (love) is to conform to the beloved in what is loved and disliked. Rajāʾ (hope) is to affirm the promises of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) regarding matters He has promised (such as the blessings of the Hereafter), that is, to trust in His promise.
Khawf (fear) is for the qalb to become aware of Allah's power and retribution.
Ḥayāʾ (modesty) is to restrict the qalb from the state of basṭ (expansion). This restriction is because nearness (qurb) necessitates these states. Some Sufis, in the state of qurb, look at Allah's greatness and majesty, and thus khawf and ḥayāʾ predominate in them. Others look at Allah's grace and eternal beneficence, so maḥabba and rajāʾ predominate in their qalb.
Shawq (longing) is when the qalb is overwhelmed and overflows upon remembering the beloved.
Uns (intimacy) is to find tranquility in Allah and to seek His help in all affairs. Ṭumaʾnīna (serenity) is to maintain composure under the manifestations of destiny.
Yaqīn (certainty) is to affirm by removing doubt.
Mushāhada (witnessing) is to distinguish between seeing with certainty and seeing with the eye. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Worship Allah as if you see Him; for if you do not see Him, He surely sees you." This is the ultimate state. After this, states such as fawātih, lawāʾih, and manāʿih occur, which cannot be described in words. "If you tried to count Allah's blessings, you could not enumerate them." (al-Aʿrāf 7:34) (Ādāb, 21)
Sehl Abdullah (Tustarī, regarding the knowledge of the Sufis) said: The knowledge of ḥāl is the judgment of the servant's state with Allah regarding his worldly and otherworldly affairs.
It has been said: ḥāl is to seek knowledge of what is lawful, in terms of the obligation to eat what is lawful. The obligation to seek what is lawful has been established. After this obligation, knowing what is lawful is also obligatory.
It is also said: This (knowledge of ḥāl) is to seek knowledge of the inner (bāṭin) aspect of the world, and this knowledge increases the servant's yaqīn. This knowledge is only attained by associating and keeping company with the righteous among the scholars, the possessors of yaqīn, the ascetics, and those brought near to Allah. Allah has included these people among His armies. He directs those who seek to them, strengthens and guides them by the paths of these exalted people. For they are the inheritors of the Prophet's knowledge. Yaqīn is learned from these people.
Since ḥāl is characterized by change, it is called ḥāl; whereas maqām is called so because it does not change and is stable. Something is a ḥāl in its essence, then becomes a maqām. For example, when a sense of self-accounting (muḥāsaba) arises in the servant's qalb, but then disappears due to the dominance of nafs (the lower self), and then sometimes reappears and sometimes vanishes. If the servant maintains the state of muḥāsaba, it becomes a permanent state. The disappearance of muḥāsaba due to the emergence of nafsānī (egotistic) qualities continues until divine aid arrives. With Allah's help, the state of muḥāsaba dominates the servant, and the nafs is subdued. The state of muḥāsaba envelops him completely and becomes the homeland, place of stability, and maqām of the nafs. The same applies to other states and stations.
If this becomes permanent and established in the servant, he is elevated from the maqām of muḥāsaba to the maqām of murāqaba. When muḥāsaba becomes the servant's maqām, murāqaba becomes his ḥāl. Then, the state of murāqaba, due to the occasional dominance of error and heedlessness in the servant's inner world, leads to the dissipation of error and heedlessness. Allah supports His servant with His help. Thus, after murāqaba becomes a ḥāl, it turns into a maqām.
The maqām of muḥāsaba only becomes stable with the arrival of the ḥāl of murāqaba. When the servant is given the opportunity to ascend to the ḥāl of mushāhada, his murāqaba becomes stable and turns into his maqām. Mushāhada is a ḥāl that sometimes is hidden and sometimes manifests openly. Then it becomes a maqām, and the illumination of this maqām is freed from the veil of concealment (its becoming a maqām removes its hiddenness).
After mushāhada, there is ascension to the highest degrees, such as realizing fanāʾ fī-llāh (annihilation in God), attaining baqāʾ bi-llāh (subsistence in God), and progressing from ʿayn al-yaqīn to ḥaqq al-yaqīn, and the state of ḥaqq al-yaqīn arises, which tears away the veil covering the qalb. This is the highest degree of mushāhada.
Maqāmāt (stations) are acquired (kasbī), while aḥwāl (states) are bestowed (wahbī). According to our arrangement, all are wahbī. The acquired are attained with the help of the bestowed, and the bestowed are attained with the help of the acquired. States are the fruits of wajd (ecstasy). Stations are the paths leading to wajd. In stations, acquisition (kasb) and striving (gayret) are manifest, and bestowals are hidden; in states, bestowals are manifest and acquisition is hidden. States are heavenly and lofty bestowals; stations are the paths leading to these bestowals. States are the inheritance of deeds.
Some have said: States are like lightning—they flash and immediately disappear. If they persist, this is not a state, but the speech and whisperings of the nafs. This statement is not true for every state, but only for those that first appear and then are tested by the nafs. Just as water does not mix with oil, states never mix with the nafs.
Others have indicated that these states are enduring and permanent, saying: If states are not continuous and successive, they are not states, but are called lawāʾih, tawāliʿ, and bawādir. These are not the states themselves, but their beginnings.
State is the hidden dhikr (dhikr performed in the qalb).
State is what Allah bestows (ihsān). For everything acquired through effort and deeds, it is said: This is what the servant has striven for. When any kind of bestowal (mawhiba) or wajd is seen in the murīd (aspirant), they say: This is called a state as an indication that it is a bestowal of this kind.
Some Sufis have said: The station in which a servant is found is only completed when he is promoted to a higher station. After this, by looking from the higher station to the lower, he judges the station he was in.
Allah knows best, but it can also be said: When the servant is at a certain station, he is given a state from the station to which he will later ascend. Because of this state, he experiences the realization of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) in his current station. Whether he is promoted or not, nothing else is given to him. The servant ascends to stations through states.
When states are later transformed into stations, the bestowals become intertwined with acquisition. The servant only sees a state from the station to which he will later be promoted when he is close to being promoted to that station.
Likewise, the servant continues to ascend to stations by increasing his states. Thus, until he reaches tawba (repentance), it is seen that states and stations are intertwined. There is no virtue that does not contain both state and station. There is state and station in zuhd (asceticism), in tawakkul (reliance upon God), and in riḍā (contentment with God's decree).
The sālik (spiritual traveler) is not the possessor of state in riḍā, but the possessor of station. State precedes station, but station is more deeply rooted. We say: Because station sprouts from the servant's acquisition and is something imposed upon his nature. State, however, is a bestowal from Allah. It cannot be mixed with nature. The state of riḍā is the most noble state, and the station of riḍā is the most solid station. There must be many states for each station. A station is only attained by the passing of a state. It is not possible for stations to appear without states passing away. Some states become stations, while others do not. The secret in this is in our statement: In stations, acquisition is manifest and bestowal is hidden; in states, acquisition is hidden and bestowal is manifest. (ʿAwārif, 276)
Taste (dhawq) is iman (faith), drinking (shurb) is knowledge, and satiation (rayy) is state. Taste is for the people of bawādiḥ (those whose qalb is suddenly visited by spiritual states), shurb is for the people of tawāliʿ, lawāʾih, and lawāmiʿ (those for whom spiritual states are somewhat more lasting), and rayy is for the people of aḥwāl (states). For ah...