Any person may become the walī of Allāh ﷻ. One simply needs to have the correct beliefs, tread the right path, carry out the commands of Allāh ﷻ and refrain from sins, and he will enjoy this relationship with Allāh ﷻ. The number of Awliyāʾ1 is not specified and there can be an unlimited amount of Awliyāʾ at any giving time. Their places are also not restricted, and, a walī could be in any part of the world.

From amongst the Awliyāʾ, Allāh ﷻ selects forty special servants and favours them with additional virtue and excellence. This category of Awliyāʾ are called the ‘Abdāl’. The number of those in this group is specified, and the area that most of them hail from is restricted. In each time and era, the number of Abdāl will always remain forty and most of them are from Shām.

This book serves to prove the presence of these categories of Awliyāʾ from the blessed ḥādīths and the pious scholars of the past. The Abdāl are a specialty of this Ummah.