“When an irrational animal like camel dances at the tune of bell, why don’t you, being the best of creation, attain absorption and ecstasy in the love of God, or go into rapture by listening the name of the Beloved,” exclaimed Hazrat Bu Ali Shah Qalandar (1209–1324), the distinguished 13th-century Sufi mystic revered across the Indian subcontinent.

Ecstasy – the joyous dance of the heart and the soul in the glory of the Divine Beloved- is not easy to achieve. Sufis say the seeker can dance in ecstasy only after he transcends the barrier of intellect and logic and attains God realisation in the depths of his heart.

It is said that Hazrat Bu Ali Shah Qalandar was a man of immense learning who taught for years in Delhi before undergoing a transformative spiritual experience. Legend goes that Hazrat threw his books into the Yamuna River to pursue a life of Majzubiyat (spiritual absorption or divine “intoxication”). God’s ecstasy can be achieved only with the internal realisation of the Divine.

Shaykh Ibn al-Farid (1181–1234), among the most celebrated Sufi mystics in the pre-modern Islamic world, was known to enter spiritual raptures, called jadhabat in Arabic. It is said that during one particular ecstasy, the Shaykh screamed out and danced in the middle of the market.

As the Shaykh danced in spiritual bliss, his intense rapture was felt by many around him. Others in the market began to join in and dance with them, causing a commotion. The euphoria ascended so high that some people even fell to the ground dancing.

His heart immersed in the glory of the Divine Beloved, Shaykh Ibn al-Farid was in a state of Wajd, intoxicated with spiritual ecstasy. The crowd finally carried the Shaykh to the al-Azhar Mosque. It is said that the Shaykh remained in this state for some days afterwards.

Sufi saints advocate harmony and balance between the Zahir (the outer, manifest world) and the Batin (the inner, hidden world). In the Sufi tradition, a complete spiritual life is a symphony between deep piety for the Divine, which is evident to the world, and the inner devotion to the Almighty in one’s heart and soul.

“Ecstasy is the secret of the inner qualities, just as obedience is the secret of the external qualities,” said Shaykh Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi (1097–1168), the founder of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi order.

Hazrat Bayazid Bastami (804-874), a Persian Sufi, was known as the Sultan-ul-Arifin (King of Those Who Know) in his times and became famous for his bold articulation of Fana, the Sufi notion of self-annihilation.

There is an old Sufi story that once in the state of ecstasy, Hazrat Bayazid Bastami made a claim to godliness, which shocked his disciples. The next day they told him what had happened. “If I do that again, strike me with your knives,” Hazrat Bayazid told them. “You must kill me.”

Later, when he was transported to a state of ecstasy again, Hazrat Bayazid claimed, “God is here in my cloak; why seek heaven and earth?” Following the instructions of their master, Hazrat Bayazid’s disciples struck him with their knives, but Hazrat was not wounded.

The blades passed through his body as if through air. The story goes that as they struck him, the disciples themselves were wounded in the very same parts of the body that they struck and many of them died. After this incident, thousands flocked to Hazrat Bayazid in wonder.

Sufi mystics have spoken very highly of spiritual ecstasy. Hazrat Abul Hasan Hakari (1018-1093), honoured with the title of Shaikh-ul-Islam for his unmatched religious knowledge and beneficence, regarded ecstasy and music as an intrinsic part of mystical life.

He believed that only love has the power “to rend the veils and unveil the secrets” of the Divine.

Spiritual transition from the confines of the limited and narrow nafs or lower ego to the Divine Reality can happen when the seeker is totally immersed in the love of the Almighty.

Hazrat Abul Hasan Hakari thus described the spiritual joy of union with the Divine, “In ecstasy the lover of God annihilates his self and gains true knowledge of God.”

The seeker of God who loses himself in the Divine Beloved experiences every moment the bliss of God’s wondrous and glorious presence.

It is said that the great Sufi mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) often found ecstasy in the rhythm of the world. One day, he was walking through the marketplace in Konya and heard the rhythmic pounding of a goldsmith’s hammer.

The steady tap-tap-tap sounded to his ears like the name of God (Allah, Allah). He was immediately seized by the state of Wajd. He began to whirl in the middle of the street, lost to everything but the rhythm.

This moment is often cited as the birth of the Sema (the whirling dance of the Dervishes). For Mevlana Rumi, true knowledge was found not in a book, but in the physical surrender to the Divine Music hidden in everyday life.

Sufi mystic Hazrat Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri (1145-1221), popularly known as ‘Attar of Nishapur’, wrote a famous allegory about ecstasy in his celebrated work, ‘The Conference of the Birds.’ He wrote that three moths set out to understand the nature of a candle flame.

The first moth flew close, saw the light, and returned to tell the others what he saw. This is “knowledge by hearing,” Hazrat Attar wrote. The second moth flew closer and touched the flame with his wing, feeling the heat.

This is “knowledge by sight/feeling,” wrote Hazrat Attar. The third moth threw himself into the heart of the flame. He was consumed and became one with the fire. Hazrat Attar explained that only the third moth truly “knew” the flame—but because he was annihilated by it, he could never return to speak of it.

This is the way Sufis regard gaining true knowledge – it can happen only through the loss of self. The ego is the barrier between the soul and the Divine Beloved. When this barrier falls, then the drop becomes the ocean and rejoices in boundless ecstasy.

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