Maarifah—the Goal of Mankind

Realization of God on earth were pens, and the sea [were] ink, with seven [more] seas added to it, the words of God would not be exhausted: for, truly, God is Almighty and Wise.” (Quran 31:27) The discovery of God who is so perfect, cannot be done in a short period of time. It is without doubt a journey which begins at a fixed point in time, but which is ultimately unending. The maarifah of God does not mean that with the help of meditation we shall have glimpses of God’s being in the world of imagination. Moreover, maarifah is not ecstasy. Maarifah is an enhanced state of consciousness which can be achieved solely by contemplation of the divine creation. According to the Quran, maarifah can be defined as a servant of God discovering God, the Lord of the worlds in all His Majesty and Glory to the extent that He becomes a centre of his love (Quran 2:165). And all his feelings of fear are associated with Him (Quran 9:18). Love and fear are interconnected. When a servant of God engages in contemplation and discovers the Creator of the Universe in all His glory, in his heart he comes to acknowledge God to a limitless extent. Moreover, when he discovers the reality that the giver is God and that no one else can give anything to him, his heart becomes filled with the fear that if he is deprived of God’s blessings, nowhere, on the earth or in heaven, will he find any other refuge. God has created man in the best of moulds (Quran 95:4). He has been granted all the intellectual capabilities by which he may achieve maarifah of the Lord of the worlds.