canonical islamic mysticism Arabic

Hal حال

state (default; the fleeting contemplative visitation granted by the Real, contrasted with the fixed maqām)

Hal (حال) — Paired with maqām in the canonical Sufi itinerary. The aḥwāl are gifts (mawāhib), not earnings; they descend and pass. Sarrāj, Qushayrī, Hujwīrī all treat the pair as load-bearing. “Condition” is forbidden because it imports a clinical register; “mood” is forbidden because it psychologizes what is an ontological visitation. Pair-render consistently with maqām so the contrast survives in English.

Etymology

[STUB: editor to author etymology, root, and morphological notes.]

Cross-tradition resonance

[STUB: editor to author cross-tradition resonances.]

Primary sources

[STUB: editor to list locus classicus and other canonical attestations.]

Scholarly literature

[STUB: editor to list standard secondary scholarship.]

Tradition
islamic mysticism
Language
Arabic
Script
Arabic
Last revised
2026-05-02

Hekhal Editorial

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Hekhal Editorial. "Hal." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. Last modified May 2, 2026. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/hal.