It continues until they reach the point of experiencing it. Thus, they fall under such influence that they completely lose their sensations (their senses). According to the strength or weakness of the ḥāl (spiritual state), they derive pleasure from the witnessing (mushāhada). In this situation, perception is not intellectual or theoretical knowledge, but rather experiential perception (dhawqī idrāk). These individuals use dhikr (remembrance of God) to invite and reinforce the ḥāl. Just as today, in the matter of the collective dhikr (adhkār) of the gathering (jamʿ), the use of action for tawājūd (induced ecstasy) is employed.
They, that is, the Sufis, are in even greater ḥāl (spiritual states). Among their perfected ones, there are those who restrict themselves solely to reciting the Noble Book (i.e., the Qur'an). That dhikr is the most authoritative. There is no dhikr above it. This is the maqām (spiritual station) of only the most perfect among the ʿārifūn (those who possess maʿrifa, experiential knowledge of God).
Again, among them, there are those who restrict themselves to repeating only a portion of the Qur'an's verses (āyāt). They call these asrār (esoteric secrets). According to them, these verses are concealed in such a way that the strength of the ḥāl can only manifest during their repetition. The ḥāl is the perception that arises in the nafs (the lower self) during the repetition of these verses. It is like the emergence of bodily strengths through the consumption of food.
ḥāl/ahwāl (spiritual state/states): Ḥāl connects all causes coming from Allah to their intermediaries. Thus, the repetition of the dhikr to which the dhākir (the one who remembers) is accustomed with his tongue is not interrupted. By directing his himma (spiritual aspiration)...