Discover the meaning of the term Al-ḥds (حدس) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readThe mind's swift passing from premises to conclusions; fikr (discursive thought) is its counterpart; it is the lowest rank of unveiling (kashf).
The swiftness of the mind's passing from premises to the sought; fikr is its counterpart. The difference between fikr and hads is that fikr requires two motions: the first, the mind's motion to acquire the premises; the second, a motion to order them. As for the mind's return and passing from the ordered premises to the conclusions, it is not a motion, being instantaneous in existence, whereas motion is progressive in existence; unlike hads, in which there is no motion at all, meaning it requires neither of the two said motions, since it is possible that the premises and the sought appear together in the mind without prior yearning or seeking, as happens to the possessors of sanctified souls. As for the passing in hads, its existence is instant and absolute, so it is not a motion. The intent of their saying 'if the ordered premises present themselves to the mind, the sought is obtained' is that the second motion's absence is necessary in hads whether or not the first motion occurs: understand and memorize, for this has escaped learners, indeed most teachers.
Striking the ground without (guiding) direction; hastening in travel; the strong, confirmed conjecture. (Al-Misbah al-Munir, root hds, p. 48; Gharib al-Hadith by al-Busti 2/156.)
The swiftness of passing from premises to conclusions.
The soul's arrival at the middle term without discursive thought (fikr).
Confirmed conjecture; the hadsi (intuitive) cognitions are those for which the intellect need not repeat observation to judge with certitude, as the moon's light, derived from the sun's light, given the variation of its luminous configurations with its positions from the sun in nearness and distance.
The mind's swiftness in passing from premises to conclusions.