In the Islamic world, particularly Persia and Arabia, Sufism emerged as the mystical dimension of Islam, emphasizing dhikr, whirling, and love for the divine to achieve fana (annihilation of self). Early figures like Rabia al-Basri promoted ecstatic union. It spread through orders and poetry. It mattered by integrating altered states into everyday devotion, fostering tolerance amid empires.

Sufi ecstasy birthed Persian ghazal poetry by Rumi and Hafez, influencing global mystics. Their works shaped English Romantics and American Transcendentalists. Themes of divine intoxication transformed poetic language of longing and unity in Islamic and cross-cultural literatures.