canonical islamic mysticism Arabic

Hawa هوى

passion (default in Akbarian erotic-mystical poetry; the all-consuming love-desire that perplexes the lover)

Hawa (هوى) — In the Tarjumān al-Ashwāq and Akbarian erotic-mystical poetry hawā is the engine of the contemplative ascent; the arbāb al-hawā (lords of passion) are the gnostic lovers perplexed in love. In Quranic and jurisprudential usage hawā names disordered desire (e.g. Quran 4:135, “follow not hawā”); the contrastive register is part of why the Akbarian poetic appropriation is provocative. “Lust” and “caprice” are forbidden because they collapse to the negative-jurisprudential register. Distinguish from maḥabba (love-as-relational, the canonical Sufi term for divine love); when both appear, the distinction is doctrinally load-bearing.

Etymology

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

Cross-tradition resonance

Related terms across traditions (each relation is a stub the editor expands):

  • Eros (christian-mysticism) — [STUB: editor to expand — shared-erotic-itinerary]

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