The Discovery of One’s Ignorance

The Discovery of One’s Ignorance T he journey of realization of God begins with ‘la ilaha’ (there is no god) and then it finishes with ‘illallah’ (but God). The individual must first of all become a seeker and later become a finder. It is this order of the journey of maarifah which applies to common man as well as to a prophet. There is a saying in the Arabic language: La adri, nisfulilm (Saying ‘I don’t know’ is half of knowledge). First of all an individual has to discover his own ignorance, and then a spirit of enquiry is born within him. The greater his acknowledgement of his own ignorance, the greater is his spiritual and intellectual learning. It is a natural reality to which there is no exception. Maarifah or the discovery of God is not something to be inherited that a father may give to a son and the grandson may receive from his forebears. Maarifah is ultimately something of a personal nature. Whenever anyone attains to God’s realization, it will happen only as a result of personal effort. Without personal effort, no one can ever achieve maarifah. Whatever a person receives without personal struggle will be just a kind of traditional belief rather than a living maarifah. Maarifah relates to the entire personality of the human being. Maarifah initially is achieved at an intellectual