Islamic term for one who has been filled by the contact of the
Holy Spirit, or the Presence of
God.
Ma'rifa cannot be attained through effort, through study or exertion of the
heart and the
mind and the
will, but only through a patient acceptance of God's power, which arises spontaneously in a person when they are freed from all struggle and desire.
(see tarekh for a further discussion of the Islamic gradations of religious experience)