معرفت

/ ma-refat /

noun · wisdom, character

Meaning

معنی

From Arabic معرفة (maʿrifa, "knowledge, gnosis"), root ع ر ف. In Sufi terminology, معرفت means mystical knowledge of the divine. In everyday Iranian use, it has shifted to describe social-emotional wisdom: showing up for friends, knowing what unspoken kindness someone needs, giving without being asked. To call someone بی‌معرفت is a stinging social verdict; به با معرفت بودن (to be bâ-ma'refat) is one of the highest informal compliments in Persian.

How it's used

Ma'refat carries dual valence depending on region and register. In Khorasan (Mashhad, Neyshabur) and among older religious-poetic speakers, ma'refat retains its Sufi sense (gnosis, mystical knowledge) and shows up in Hafez and Rumi readings. In everyday Tehran speech the word usually means "decency, character, knowing how to behave"; calling someone bi-ma'refat is a strong but conversational reproach for someone who forgot their social obligations. Diaspora communities use the everyday-character sense more than the mystical sense.

In a sentence

مثال

آدم با معرفت

âdam-e bâ-ma'refat

a person of character

The company it keeps

هم‌نشین‌ها

You rarely meet a word alone — here it is, at work beside others.

با معرفت

bâ-ma'refat

of good character, loyal, deep

بی‌معرفت

bi-ma'refat

shallow, callous, ungrateful

معرفت داشتن

ma'refat dâshtan

to have character

عاشق و معرفت

âsheq-o-ma'refat

lover and wisdom

In its constellation

در پیوند

No word stands alone. Follow a thread to the words it lives beside — hover to read one, click to open it.

See it in the whole constellation →

معرفتma-refat

دل دریاdel-e daryâ عاشقasheq تعارف باشیtarof-bashi تعارفTaarof مهربانmehraban حکمتhekmat

معرفتma-refat

keeps company with ۶ words