Discover the meaning of the term Al-skr (سكر) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIt is that which comes from date water, that is, fresh dates, when it is boiled, thickened and skimmed; its rulings are those of the badhiq (cooked wine).
An inattention arising from joy's prevail over the intellect through partaking of what occasions it, in eating and drinking; among the people of the True: sukr is absence by a strong arrival; it grants ecstasy and relish, and it is stronger than absence (ghayba) and more complete than it. The sukr from wine: according to Abu Hanifa, that he no longer know the earth from the sky; according to Abu Yusuf, Muhammad and al-Shafi'i: that his speech become confused; and according to some: that his gait become confused when he moves.
With damma: a psychical disposition causing the spirit's expansion, following the ascendancy of hot, moist vapors rising to the brain in its hollow, due to the use of what occasions it; at times, with its intensity, sensation and voluntary movement are suspended as well. The sukr occasioning the punishment, according to Abu Hanifa, may Allah the Most High have mercy on him, is that he no longer know the earth and the sky, men and women. According to Abu Yusuf, Muhammad and al-Shafi'i, may Allah the Most High have mercy on them: that his walking be confused with his movement. Sukr absolutely is an inattention arising from joy's prevail over the intellect through partaking of what occasions it in eating and drinking; with the friends of Allah, the Most High: it is bewilderment and awe at witnessing the beauty of the Beloved; the intellect is then overpowered, discernment is lifted from between, and at the utmost of bewilderment one knows not what one says; thus al-Mansur said 'I am the True,' and Abu Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah the Most High have mercy on them both: 'Glory be to Me! How great is My state!', only in this state, which is sukr. The sukr with two fathas: the infusion of raisins or fresh dates when it has boiled and thickened.
'Sakara-hu sakuran wa sukaranan': he dulled it and stilled it. : His eye: its gazing was stilled. : The river or the like: he dammed it and held it back; one says 'sakara basara-hu': he restrained his gaze. : The tank or the like: 'sakira sakran': it filled. : So-and-so, from the drink, 'sakira sakran, wa sakira, wa sakira, wa sakira, wa sukarana': his intellect and perception departed; he is then sakir and sakran; and she is sakrana and sakra.
Absence from the discernment of things, by an arrival wherein the authority of the spiritual state prevails.