أُولَٰئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ Those (kuffar)...

أُولَٰئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ Those (kuffar), they are called to from a far-off place.(Qur’an 41:44) The nearness or farness then is from the human perspective. So to recap, the walayah that is usually used in the Qur’an is not a relative term that is equal on both sides; rather it is of a type that the Muslim philosophers have termed as ishraqi. In an ishraqi relation the second term is dependent upon the first and can be said to be a manifestation of it.

In the Arabic language, especially as used by the ‘ulama, the first case of the two-sided nearness is termed wilayah and the second case - one-sided or ishraqi is termed walayah. Now the Qur’an says: …فَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْوَلِيُّ … But it is Allah Who is the (real) Wali. (Qur’an 42:9) So absolute walayah (and implicitly wilayah) belongs only to Allah. He most perfectly and supremely encompasses all creation and is infinitely close to all things and hence has command over them.

His servants become close to Him and hence gain walayah only by approaching Him through correct intellection and willpower. They must know the truth and do good acts to gain this nearness and become one of the awliya. The widening of the circle of walayah for a person and its ability to encompass more and more of reality is a tendency pointing towards the Absolute walayah of Allah and hence is divine in nature and essence.

What is God-like is liked by God and is the cause of our becoming near to Him and His friends. And Allah in turn becomes the Friend of these believers. اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا …. Allah is the Wali of those who believe. (Qur’an 2:257) In this sense walayah can be seen to be the great chain of being and becoming - the principle in existence and of existence that ties all existents together and unifies them in their Source and Origin.

As such the wali al-muťlaq is the raison d'être of walayah - infinitely close to all things but yet the cause of their gradation and farness from Him and the cause of their becoming towards Him. To phrase again, the principle of walayah is known by its peak - that is by the Wali - Allah.

This very same principle in both its horizontal aspect (implying connectedness and relevance) and its vertical aspect (implying goal and example) requires the existence of a relative peak in all realms and conditioned by the limitations of that realm.

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