Station (Maqam)
Station (maqam) denotes anyone’s “standing” in the Way of God, his fulfillment of the obligations appertaining to that “station,” and his keeping it until he comprehends its perfection so far as lies in a man’s power. It is not permissible for a person to quit his “station” without fulfilling its obligations thereof. Thus, the first “station” is repentance (tawbat0, then comes conversion (inabat), then renunciation (zuhud), then trust in God (tawwakul); and so on. These stages are achieved step by step, and none can escape in between.
State (Hal)
Hal is something that descends from God into man’s heart without his being able to repel it when it comes or to attract it when it goes by personal effort.
The Distinction between State (hal) and station (maqam) (180-181)
Therefore, the term “station” means the way of the seeker, his progress in the field of exertion, and his rank before God in proportion to his merit; the term “state” denotes the favor and grace which God bestows upon the hearts of His servant, and which are not connected with any mortification on the latter’s part.
Ibn-al-waqt
According to mystic tradition, ‘Ibn-al-waqt’ is a Sufi experiencing an unbounded spiritual state, which reflects the gifts he has been bestowed. He is more prone to being ‘reactive’ and acquiring emotional mode, and he is termed “Qalandar” and “Rind” as well. (Masnavi Maulvi Ma’navi, Urdu Translation & commentary by Qazi Sajjad Hussain, vol.1, p 45.
“Station” belongs to the category of acts, and “state” to the category of gifts.
Hence, the man who has a “station” stands by his self-mortification, whereas the man who has a “state” is dead to “self” and stands by a “state” that God creates in him. Station is something that a Sufi achieves with personal effort, and state is something that His Graciousness bestows.
Haal & Hazrat Ibrahim (pbuh)
He was not conscious of separation, that he should be stricken with grief, nor of union, that he should be filled with joy. The sun and the moon and the stars contributed to his ‘hal’ (state), but he, while gazing, was independent of them: whatever he looked on, saw only God, and he said, “I love not those that set.” (Qur’an, 6:76)
‘Hal’ (state) is an attribute of the object desired (murad), while ‘waqt’ (time) is the rank of the desirer (murid). The latter is in pleasure with himself of waqt, the former with God in the delight of ‘hal’ (state). How far apart are the two degrees?
Ibn-al-Haal
‘Ibn-al-Haal’ is the Sufi fully in control of his spiritual state; he never lets the common guess his spiritual heights, that he has reached the knowledge of Essence.
Satisfaction (177-180)
Satisfaction is the lovers’ choice. For some, it is a state, and for some, the station.
Satisfaction results from Love in as much the lover is satisfied with what is done by beloved, whether it is “pain of chastisement” or “The Pleasure of Bounty.”
According to Muhassabi School, “The satisfaction belongs to the class of “states” and Divine gifts, not to the stages acquired by effort.” P. 179. Quiescence and tranquility of heart are not qualities acquired by Man but are Divine gifts.
God told Moses, “O son of Imran, My satisfaction with thee consists in thy being satisfied with my decree.”
Harith Muhasibi would say, “Satisfaction is the quiescence (sukun) of the heart under the events which flow from the Divine decrees.” As Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) had prayed from God, “O God, I ask of Thee satisfaction after the going forth of Thy ordinance (al rida ba’ad al-qada), i.e., “keep me in such a condition that when the ordinance comes to me from Thee, Destiny may find me satisfied with its coming.”
Satisfaction is the end of “stations” and the beginning of the “states”: it is a place in which one side rests on acquisition and effort and the other side on Love and rapture: there is no “station” above it: at this point, mortifications (mujahadat) cease. Hence, its beginning is in the class of things divinely bestowed. Therefore, it may be called either a “station” (no more to go) or a “state” (which is going to last).
When a man sees God’s choice and abandons his choice, he is delivered from all sorrow. This condition, however, does not hold in the absence of God (ghaybat); it requires presence With God (hudur), because ‘satisfaction expels sorrows and cures heedlessness’, and purges the heart of thoughts relating to other than God and frees it from the bounds of tribulation; for it is characteristic of satisfaction to deliver (rahanidan).” (Kashaf-al-Mahjub, p.178)
Happiness is real when it leads to the Giver of Happiness; otherwise, it is an affliction. But who is satisfied with the affliction that God sends is confident because in the affliction he sees the Author thereof and can endure its pain by contemplating Him who sent it; nay he does not account it painful, such is his joy in contemplating his Beloved. (Kashaf-al-Mahjub, p.178)
Finally, those who are satisfied with being chosen by God are His lovers, whose existence is an illusion alike in His Hunger and His satisfaction; whose hearts dwell in the presence of Purity and the garden of intimacy; who have no thought of created things and have escaped from the bonds of “stations” and “states” and have devoted themselves to the Love of God. Their satisfaction involves no loss; satisfaction with God is a manifest kingdom. (Kashaf-al-Mahjub. p.179)
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