Spiritual States

[yusuf]

Spiritual States

(Courtesy of Arabic Treasures with a few additional edits)

The idea that words derived from the same root-letters are also semantically related is evident in the following hadith [1], where the Messenger of God ﷺ, said: The heart (qalb) takes its name from its constant turning (taqallub). The likeness of the heart is that of a feather in the desert, caught in a tree, being turned over and over by the wind.’ ( مَثَلُ الْقَلْبِ مَثَلُ الرِّيشَةِ تُقَلِّبُهَا الرِّيَاحُ بِفَلاَةٍ )

 

In this saying, the human heart is likened to a leaf blowing in the wind [2]. Our emotional states fluctuate constantly and are affected by external circumstances that we have no control over. One minute we can be filled with joy and enthusiasm, and in the next we feel miserable and depressed.

 

Some spiritual states are fleeting, i.e. they come and go, and some of them arise or disappear in spite of our efforts. Scholars and elders alike have written extensively about our spiritual states and they divided them into various groups. For example, spiritual states can be divided into two basic categories: stations (مقامات - maqāmāt) and conditions (أحوال - aḥwāl). The first category consists of different spiritual states that are generally acquired in a sequence one after the other. These stations are not brief experiences but relatively long lasting and are achieved through difficult spiritual labor. The latter category includes several spiritual conditions that all share two characteristic traits: they are fleeting experiences, and they cannot be acquired or avoided through our actions.

 

The Arabic word for a state or condition is ḥāl (حال). This word is derived from the root-letters ح-و-ل, and all words derived from this root point back to the fundamental semantic meaning of “a circular motion”. A year is called ḥawl (حول), for example, as it can be seen as a cyclical rotation. The root meaning of the word حال reveals something about the nature of our emotional conditions. Whenever they disappear, we can be fairly certain that they will return. Enthusiasm and vitality can easily change to apathy and lethargy. This is natural and also difficult to avoid. Rather than wasting time trying to change these conditions, we can instead be focusing on how to behave in the presence of God when we are full of energy as well as when we feel empty and helpless.                                                                                                                                                        

 

[1] In another hadith, God (عز وجل) says :   أَنَا الرَّحْمَنُ، وَأَنَا خَلَقْتُ الرَّحِمَ، وَاشْتَقَقْتُ لَهَا مِنَ اسْمِي، فَمَنْ وَصَلَهَا وَصَلْتُهُ، وَمَنْ قَطَعَهَا بَتَتُّهُ‏

‘I am al-Raḥmān (the All-Merciful); I created the raḥim (the womb i.e. family ties) and derived a name for it from My Name. Hence, whosoever keeps it, I will keep ties to him, and whosoever severs it, I will sever ties with him.’

 

[2] The Arabic words for wind (هواء) and passion (هوى) stem from the same root (interestingly, these are also the last three letters of the alphabet and the adjectives for airy and breezy, like the weather in Hawaii, is (هوائي pronounced hawaa'ii). Our passions are capriciously directed towards different objects just as the wind blows in different directions.