Analysis and classification of the results and effects of mystical experiences in Sufism prose texts

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

milad salahi khalkhali ¹

ghodratollah taheri ²

¹ shahid beheshti university

² دانشگاه شهید بهشتی

10.22067/jls.2026.95763.1760

Abstract

Mystical experiences, which are referred to in various terms, have an importance in mystical traditions in various cultures, including Iranian Sufism. Achieving these mystical experiences and extraordinary states has sometimes been considered the ultimate goal of mystics. Through the reports in Sufi texts about mystical experiences, one can understand that one of the most fundamental reasons for the value of these experiences is the effects and results that emerge in the knowledge, behavior, psyche, and emotions of the seeker after these states. In this study, by studying the key texts of Sufi prose from the third to the eighth centuries AH, the results and effects of mystical experiences that were recorded and recorded by the mystics themselves or by those who explained their mystical experiences have been identified, classified, and analyzed. In addition, explaining the results of mystical experiences is also helpful in understanding the nature of these experiences. These results can be counted and classified into five categories: epistemic results, mental-psychological results, functional-behavioral results, bodily reflections as bodily consequences, and the surface, which is the linguistic consequence of these discoveries and divine import. Meanwhile, the epistemic results themselves can be divided into subgroups. Mental-psychological results also play a prominent role in contemporary studies and can be effective in connecting mysticism with the new world. Explaining the other three results (behavioral, bodily, and linguistic) is a step forward in understanding mystical experiences in the Sufi tradition

Keywords

Mystical experiences

effects and results of mystical experiences

Sufi prose texts

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