Intoxication and Sobriety in Sufism

The ‘drunken Sufi' is a reference to those who are seized by ecstasy when the veil over their eyes is lifted. They are unable to contain themselves. It can often happen that this exquisite poetry comes pouring out of them (e.g. Mansur al Hallaj and Bayazid Bastami).

The sober Sufis contain their ecstasy within themselves, "avoiding scandal... and maintaining discretion of their spiritual state"1. They do not compose poetry but find their natural home in prose where they discuss the details of the religious Law. Imam al-Ghazali and Imam al-Junayd are two exemplars of this condition.

Ghazali argues that lovers should keep silent about their experience of ecstasy and it is dangerous to share the secrets of love to the uninitiated. Those who proclaim this secret openly have shown that they have not attained the ultimate degree. They resemble the "kettle that sings as long as the water is not yet boiling; when the water [actually] boils and evaporates, the kettle becomes silent." 

- Annemarie Schimmel
Source: Mystical Dimension of Islam, page 70

Notes

* The authentic ecstasy (wajd) of the Sufi, according to Ibn Arabi, is the discovery (wajada) of your true being (wujud).

Reference

1. Islam and the Destiny of Man by Gai Eaton, page 213