One who, due to love and the witnessing (mushāhada) of the beloved, becomes absent from their own witnessing. Although there is a distinction between these meanings, such a person's state is called sakr (intoxication), istilām, maḥw (obliteration), and jamʿ (union). The state dominates the qalb (the heart) so that the one who loves and remembers becomes absent and annihilated in the beloved. Thus, union and fusion occur, to the point that the person imagines the Beloved to be themselves.
The following story illustrates this state: When the beloved of a person threw themselves into the water, the lover also jumped in after them. When the beloved asked, "Why did you jump into the water?" the lover replied, "I became lost in you, so I thought you were me."
One who is in this ḥāl (spiritual state), upon regaining their senses, realizes their error, and ḥaqīqas (inner realities) begin to be distinguished within themselves. (At this point, it becomes clear that the Lord is the Lord, and the servant is the servant. The Creator is distinct from the created. Accordingly, in created things there is nothing of His Essence, and in His Essence there is nothing of the created. However, in the states of sakr, maḥw, istilām, and fanāʾ (annihilation in God), one becomes absent from this distinction (is unaware of this separation). In this state, some of the words uttered by certain ḥāl possessors are considered shaṭaḥāt (ecstatic utterances), which would be deemed deviant if spoken in a state of sobriety. However, when distinction and awareness return, this state disappears, so why should one be held accountable for such words?
There is a praiseworthy, a blameworthy, and a pardonable form of fanāʾ. The fanāʾ that is praised is that of one who becomes annihilated from loving, fearing, hoping in, relying upon, or seeking help from anyone other than Allah, so that the servant's religion, both outwardly and inwardly, is directed solely to Allah.
The absence of awareness and knowledge to the extent that the person cannot distinguish themselves from others is never praiseworthy and is not considered a quality of kamāl (perfection). This is neither desired nor commanded for the possessor. Rather, the aim is for the possessor to have intellect and discernment sufficient to recognize each station-holder's proper place, to see realities as they are in accordance with knowledge and the wisdom (ḥikma) of sakr and ṣaḥw (sobriety), and to distinguish the eternal (qadīm) from the originated (ḥādith), and the worshipper from the Worshipped. If one is not strong enough for this, they are excused. For this reason, acts of worship are assigned to their levels, their levels are observed, and the right of servitude is given to each level, and it is witnessed that this is fulfilled. (Bughyat, 28)
Ṣaḥw (sobriety) is the return of sensation and awareness after the Sufi has lost their ḥāl (spiritual state) and consciousness. Sakr is the Sufi's return to the state of absence through a powerful influx (wārid). Sakr is stronger, more complete, and more perfect than the state of absence, because the cause of absence can sometimes be desire and dread (raġba and rahba), or fear and hope (khawf and rajāʾ). The cause of sakr, however, is the opening of unveiling to the servant only through the attribute of beauty (jamāl). For sakr is the yearning of the rūḥ (the spirit) and the qalb's falling in love. This is not for those who possess desire, dread, fear, or hope, but only for those who possess ecstasy (wajd), witnessing (mushāhada), and existence (wujūd).
Some say that what appears at the end of sakr is weaker than the state of absence, but this opinion is incorrect, for such a state cannot be called sakr. In the end, sakr is the great absence, but weak absence is not sakr. Rather, weak absence is to appear as if in sakr when one is not. (Jāmiʿ, 229)
Someone has said about sakr: "Sakr is when the dominance of the state overwhelms the person." Another has said: "It is the agitation of the qalb during the remembrance of the beloved." Another has said: "It is the return to the state of absence through a powerful influx." (Nabhānī, I, 236)
Sakr is the overwhelming of the person by the dominance of the state, while ṣaḥw is the return to actions and words. Muḥammad Ḥafīf says: "Sakr is the agitation of the qalb during the remembrance of the beloved." Wāsiṭī says: "The stations of ecstasy (wajd) are four: first, distraction (zulhul, self-forgetfulness), then ḥayra (bewilderment), then sakr, and finally ṣaḥw. The example is of one who hears the sound of the sea, then approaches it, then enters it, and then is overwhelmed by its waves." According to this example, the one who bears the mark (ishāra) of sakr is the one upon whom traces of that state remain. The one who attains stability in all these is saved. Sakr is the state of the possessors of the qalb, while ṣaḥw is the state of those who uncover the realities of the unseen.
Abū'l-Qāsim Qushayrī says: "Ṣaḥw is the return to sensation and awareness after the end of the state of absence. Sakr is to experience the state of absence under the influence of a powerful influx (wārid, effusion). Sakr is, in a sense, more than the state of absence, because sometimes the possessor of sakr, when not at a complete and perfect level in the state of sakr, is in a state of expansion (bast). Sometimes, in the state of sakr, the state of remembering things departs from the qalb, as the influx does not fully encompass them."