ʿIrfānī ethics (mystical ethics), as one of the major approaches within Islamic ethics, plays a significant role in explaining moral virtues (faḍāʾil) and vices (raḏāʾil) on the basis of the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of Islamic ʿirfān. Drawing upon the principles of Islamic mysticism, this approach examines the dispositions (malakāt) and qualities of the soul (nafs) together with the actions that arise from them, while offering practical guidance for acquiring virtues and avoiding vices in order to promote the moral and spiritual perfection (kamāl) of the human being. Nevertheless, one of the major challenges in this field is the ambiguity surrounding the definition of ʿirfānī ethics and its distinction from practical mysticism (al-ʿirfān al-ʿamalī). The present study addresses this issue by investigating the following question: What is ʿirfānī ethics, and how does it differ from practical mysticism and non-mystical ethical approaches? The findings indicate that ʿirfānī ethics is a discipline that explains ethical issues on the basis of the principles of Islamic mysticism and is fundamentally distinct from practical mysticism with respect to its subject matter, objectives, and principal concerns. The subject of ʿirfānī ethics is the moral qualities and voluntary actions of the soul, whereas practical mysticism is concerned with the spiritual stations (maqāmāt) and inner states (aḥwāl) of the heart on the path of spiritual wayfaring (sulūk). Likewise, the primary objective of ʿirfānī ethics is to identify moral virtues and vices and to explain the means of acquiring or avoiding them, whereas the ultimate goal of practical mysticism is the realization of true tawḥīd through annihilation in God (fanāʾ fī Allāh) and spiritual subsistence in Him (baqāʾ bi Allāh). By offering a comprehensive definition of ʿirfānī ethics and clarifying its distinction from practical mysticism, this study seeks to provide a clearer conceptual framework for employing the potential of this approach in moral and spiritual education.