Allah, the Almighty, said:
{…he said: My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You…} ⁷⁴³ [al-A‘raf 7:143]

Intoxication⁷⁴⁴ in this matter is a name that is used in reference to the loss of control during the [state of] excitement.⁷⁴⁵ It is of the stations of the lovers in particular, because the certainties of fanâ’ (self-annihilation) do not accept it⁷⁴⁶ and the stations of knowledge do not reach it.⁷⁴⁷ There are three signs of intoxication:

1. aversion to occupation with reports, with perfect veneration⁷⁴⁸


2. sailing through the middle of the ocean of yearning, with perpetual establishment⁷⁴⁹


3. drowning in the sea of bliss, with distraught patience⁷⁵⁰

Anything aside from this is mere confusion⁷⁵¹ that is ignorantly referred to as intoxication or mystification that is unjustifiably given its name. ⁷⁵²

Anything aside from this is inconsistent with true insight, such as the intoxication of greed ⁷⁵³,the intoxication of ignorance, and the intoxication of lust.

⁷⁴³ The imam means to say that Moosâ’s hearing of his Lord put him into such a state of ‘intoxication’ that he asked Him to reveal Himself to him.
⁷⁴⁴ Imam Ibn al-Qayyim notes in Madârij that such a term is suboptimal. Whenever it was used in the Revelation or by the first community, it carried only negative connotations. Despite that, the meaning Imam al-Harawi speaks of is a noble meaning and the state is a true state, although inferior to the next state of ṣaḥw (sobriety).
⁷⁴⁵ The excitement that may result from intense spiritual encounters and focus on the Divine to the point of self-dissolution may impair the person’s control, resulting, for instance, in esoteric utterances during such trances. See the discussion on shaṭaḥât in the introduction.
⁷⁴⁶ Since in the state of fanâ’ (self-annihilation), there is no self-perception to have excitement.
⁷⁴⁷ Because the knowledge of love is not the same as the state of love. Those who possess the knowledge and are deprived of the state will not experience such lofty stations.
⁷⁴⁸ Imam Ibn al-Qayyim notes in Madârij that listening to reports from and about one’s Beloved is the joy of the believers, but they may have this aversion if it keeps them from a more noble service to Him or if it comes from pretentious conduits.
⁷⁴⁹ While they sail through the waves of yearning, they do not forget the requirements of servitude and they adhere to the indications of knowledge, in which they continue to be established.
⁷⁵⁰ Their yearning depletes their patience and emaciates it.
⁷⁵¹ Confusion and incoherence are different from spiritual intoxication.
⁷⁵² Mystification is a lower station. To the sheikh, intoxication belongs to the higher section of realities.
⁷⁵³ Greed for the pleasures of the dunyâ, including egotistic greed for spiritual fulfillment (or supremacy) without taking proper means to earning God’s pleasure.