[There is a passage on the hierarchy of Divine Friends in FawÂed-i-RuknÎ, another work of the author, which is translated below as a supplement to the present subject.—Trs.]

There are 4,000 WalÎs who are not known to the world. They do not know one another, nor are they conscious of their exalted position. They ever remain veiled from the world, as well as from themselves.

There are 300 AkhyÂr (the Charitable or the Benevolent) who solve the difficulties of the world and keep the gate of the Divine Sanctuary. There are forty AbdÂl (the Substitutes); 17 AbrÂr (the Liberated); 5 Nujab (the Pure); 4 AutÂd (the Pegs); 3 Nuqab (the Watchers); 1 Qutub (the Pole), also called Gaus, the 'Redresser of Grievances'. All these know one another and are interdependent for the discharge of their respective duties. (Total, 370—Trs.)

According to another authority (Majma-us-SÂerÎn) there are 356 WalÎs ever working in the world. When one of them retires, another takes his place, so that there is never any diminution in the number 356. They are made up of 300 + 40 + 7 + 5 + 3 + 1. The One is the Qutub of the world, the preservation of which is due to His holy existence. If He retired without another to take His place, the world would fall to pieces. When the Qutub retires, one of the Three takes His place; one of the Five fills up the gap in the Three, one of the Seven fills up the gap in the Five, one of the Forty fills up the gap in the Seven, one of the Three Hundred fills up the gap in the Forty, and a man is posted to the vacancy in the rank of the Three Hundred—so that 356 ever continue working in the world, and every spot is blessed by Their auspicious Feet. Their outer life is similar to that of ordinary people, so the latter cannot know Them. Inwardly, They are united with God. Love, Friendship, and the Mysteries have to do with the within, not with the without. They (the WalÎs) are too strong to be hindered by earth, water, fire, air, plains and hills. Being in the East, They can see and hear men in the West. They can instantly go from the East to the West, come from the West to the East, go to and come back from Arsh (the Divine Throne). Theirs are many superhuman powers of like nature.