They have become utterly annihilated and are immersed in pure individuality (fardāniyya-i maḥḍa). At this point, their intellects have ceased to function entirely, and they have fallen into ḥayra (bewilderment). Here, there remains no place for them to remember anything other than Allah, not even themselves. According to them, there is nothing but Allah. They have fallen into the state of sekr (spiritual intoxication), and the power of their intellects has rejected anything other than Him. Among them, one has said, "Ana al-Ḥaqq (I am the Truth)", another, "Subḥānī mā aʿẓamu shānī (Glory be to me! How great is my station!)", and another, "Mā fī jubbatī siwā Allāh (There is nothing beneath my cloak but Allah)."
The words uttered by lovers in the state of sekr have been concealed and not narrated. When they emerge from the state of ḥāl (spiritual state) of sekr and return to the dominion of the intellect, which is Allah's measure on earth, according to the people of sekr-sahw, they realize that this is not true ittiḥād (union), but rather something resembling ittiḥād. The statements of lovers at the peak of their love, such as "I am the one I love, and the one I love is me," are of this nature. The following example is not far from this: A person suddenly encounters a mirror, looks at it, and at first only sees the mirror (not immediately recognizing their own image in it); thus, they imagine that the form they see, which is actually the mirror itself, has united with themselves. (Mishkāt, 59)
Sekr-i tabīʿat (intoxication of nature) is a sekr arising from the nature of the body. According to some taʾwīl (esoteric interpreters), this is the tree forbidden to Adam. (Heyükil, 100)
Sekr is when the dominance of the ḥāl overtakes a person, while sahw is the return to actions and words. Muḥammad Ḥafīf says: Sekr is the agitation of the heart during the remembrance of the Beloved. Vāsiṭī says: The stations of wajd (ecstasy) are four: first zuhūl (heedlessness, self-forgetfulness), then bewilderment, then sekr, and finally sahw. Its example is that of one who hears the sound of the sea, then approaches it, then enters it, and then is overtaken by the waves. According to this example, the one who bears the mark of the current from that state upon him is the one in whom the sign of sekr is found. Whoever attains stability in all these states is saved. Sekr is the state of the possessors of the heart, while sahw is the state of those who uncover the realities of the unseen.
Sahw (What is it? We say: (Futūḥāt)) After the state of ghayba (absence), it is the return to awareness through a powerful influx.
Sekr (What is it? We say: (Futūḥāt)) It is an absence that comes with a strong and exhilarating influx, from which sahw largely emerges. (Iṣṭilāḥ, 532; Futūḥāt, I, 129)
Sekr is the science of states (ahwāl). For this reason, this state belongs to those who are in joy and happiness. The Sufis define sekr as follows: Sekr is an absence experienced through a powerful influx. Sekr is nothing but an absence contrary to joy, delight, and happiness. It is the manifestation of the things desired as forms established in the self of the one in this state (the person loses themselves and sees only the manifestations). In the state of sekr, the men of God (rijāl Allāh) are at the levels we will mention, inshaAllah.
Sekr is natural, and it is the joy, delight, felicity, and happiness felt by the nafs (the lower self) through the influx of desire. If the desire belonging to it manifests as forms established in the imagination of the person, it dominates and governs them. Among those who experience such a state, the poets say:
I am the owner of the palace and the mansion
while in the state of sekr
Undoubtedly, he sees what he possesses as the goal of what he seeks. When he enters the state of sekr, the form of the palace and mansion is established as property for him. At any level, he acts with it. The imagination of his those among the people of God who are aware of this together with their imagination, this sekr is natural. They continue to muraqaba (spiritual vigilance) what they wish to obtain from Allah until the state of sekr-sahw dominates and strengthens in them. (Futūḥāt, II, 534)
Sekr-i ʿaqlī (intellectual sekr) is the sekr of the ʿārifūn (gnostics). What remains is the sekr experienced by all Sufis. This is the divine sekr mentioned in the supplication of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him): "O Allah, increase my bewilderment regarding You!" (Heysemi, VII, 201). The one in the state of sekr is bewildered (in a state of ḥayra).
Sekr-i ilāhī (divine sekr), on the other hand, is perfect joy and happiness. True sekr occurs in the manifestation in forms. Someone has said:
The gathering became intoxicated with the turning of the cup
but my intoxication is not from the one who turns
The one intoxicated by witnessing never regains sahw (sobriety). Indeed, not every state is accompanied by joy, happiness, or the disclosure of divine secrets. This is not sekr, but rather absence, fanāʾ (annihilation in God), or maḥq (obliteration). A group on the path of Allah...