Cleansing of the heart (Sufism)

Love for the ephemeral world and the attendant worrying over griefs and sorrow are replaced in the heart by love of God. Self-mortification and austerity are essential conditions for spiritual progress, abstaining from all objects but God. This cleansing may involve physical ablutions and ritual prayers, including some repeated during the night.

The second of four contemplative disciplines the salik (seeker after God) must pass through to obtain ma'rifa. Various Sufi orders may differ in approach but all require the same spiritual concentration; manifestation in its many forms may be dealt with in many ways but the realization of spiritual reality behind the forms is the same.