وليNearness — one thing following directly upon another with nothing foreign intervening; … (root wly)

Al-wilāya (الولاية) is the verbal noun of al-muwālāh (الموالاة, mutual alliance/support), and al-walāya (الولاية) is the verbal noun of al-wālī (الوالي, the governor). Al-walāʾ (الولاء) is the verbal noun of al-mawlā (المولى). Al-mawālī (الموالي) are the paternal cousins. Al-mawālī of the household of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family) are those for whom charity (ṣadaqa) is forbidden. Al-mawlā (المولى) is: the manumitter, the confederate, and the walī (guardian/protector). Al-walī (الولي) is 'walī al-niʿam' (ولي النعم, the master/benefactor who bestows favors). Al-muwālāh (الموالاة) is taking a mawlā as ally; it also means to perform two throws or two acts consecutively (yuwālī) in anything. You say: 'aṣabtuhu bi-thalāthati as-hum walāʾ (أصبته بثلاثة أسهم ولاء)' — 'I hit him with three arrows in succession.' And you say: 'ʿalā al-walāʾ (على الولاء),' meaning one thing after another. Al-walī (الولي) is the rain that comes after al-wasmī. One says: waliyat al-arḍ walyan (وليت الأرض وليا) — the land received the walī-rain, so it is muwliya (مولية); and the rain/downpour is said to have 'walāhā' (وَلَاهَا) it. Al-waliyya (الولية) is the pack-cloth/saddle-blanket (ḥils), and al-walāyā (الولايا) is its plural. He said [in verse]: "Like al-balāyā [camels tethered at graves], their heads in the pack-cloths, as the samūm wind has not seared the warmth of [their] cheeks." Wallā al-rajul (ولى الرجل) means he turned his back/retreated. Istawlā fulān ʿalā shayʾ (استولى فلان على شيء) is said when a thing comes into his possession. Istawlā al-faras ʿalā al-ghāya (استولى الفرس على الغاية) means the horse reached the finish line.

Al-walī (الولي) means nearness and proximity. One says: tabāʿada baʿda walā (تباعد بعد ولى) — 'it grew distant after having been near.' And '[eat] from what is next to you (mimmā yalīka مما يليك),' i.e., from what is near you. And he said [in verse]: 'And obstacles have intervened, dispersing, short of your nearness (walīk).' From this one says waliyahu yaliyhu (وليه يليه), with kasra in both forms, which is anomalous (shādhdh). Awlaytuhu al-shayʾ (أوليته الشيء) — 'I gave him the thing' — fa-waliyahu (فوليه), 'so he took charge of it.' Likewise: waliya al-wālī al-balad (ولي الوالي البلد) — the governor governed the town; waliya al-rajul al-bayʿ (ولي الرجل البيع) — the man conducted the sale; wilāya (ولاية) in both. Awlaytuhu maʿrūfan (أوليته معروفا) — I did him a kindness. In expressing wonder one says: mā awlāhu lil-maʿrūf (ما أولاه للمعروف) — 'how deserving he is of kindness!' — which is anomalous. You say: 'fulān waliya wa-waliya ʿalayhi (فلان ولي وولي عليه)' — 'so-and-so governed and was governed over' — just as one says sāsa wa-sīsa ʿalayhi (ساس وسيس عليه). The ruler 'wallāhu' (appointed him) to such-and-such a task, and appointed him to sell the thing. Tawallā al-ʿamal (تولى العمل) means he took on the task. Tawallā ʿanhu (تولى عنه) means he turned away from him. Wallā hāriban (ولى هاربا) means he turned in flight. His saying, Most High: 'wa-li-kulli wijhatun huwa muwallīhā' (ولكل وجهة هو موليها) — 'and each has a direction which it faces' — means he turns his face towards it. Al-walī (الولي) is the rain after al-wasmī, called walī because it follows (yalī) the wasmī. Likewise al-waly (الولى), with sukūn, on the pattern faʿl and faʿīl, plural awliya (أولية). From this one says: waliyat al-arḍ walyan (وليت الأرض وليا). Al-walī (الولي) is the opposite of al-ʿaduw (العدو, enemy); from this one says tawallāhu (تولاه) — he took him as friend/ally. Al-mawlā (المولى) is: the manumitter, the freedman, the paternal cousin, the helper, the neighbor. Al-walī (الولي) is the in-law (by marriage); and everyone who takes charge of a single affair is its walī. As the poet said: "They are al-mawlā [our kinsmen], even if they wronged us, and we are eager to meet with them." Abū ʿUbayda said: he means al-mawālī, i.e., the paternal cousins — like His saying, Most High: 'thumma yukhrijukum ṭiflan' (ثم يخرجكم طفلا) [using the singular for the plural]. As for Labīd's verse: "So she went forth, each of the two flanks she thought was the place most fitting for fear, behind her and before her," he means it is the most likely place for war/danger to occur. His words 'fa-ghadat' complete the clause, as if he said 'so this wild cow went forth,' the speech being broken off and then resumed, as if he said: 'she thinks that each of the two flanks is the place of fear.' Al-mawlā (المولى) is also 'the confederate.' He said [in verse]: "Mawālī of alliance, not mawālī of kinship, but rather dependents who beg for tribute." He means: they are confederates, not paternal cousins. Al-Farazdaq's verse: "Had ʿAbdallāh been [merely] a mawlā, I would have satirized him, but ʿAbdallāh is a mawlā of mawālī." Because ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Isḥāq was a client (mawlā) of the Ḥaḍramīs, who were allies of Banū ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf, and among the Arabs the confederate is [called] a mawlā. He said 'mawāliyā,' putting it in the accusative, because he restored it to its original form for poetic necessity, and did not give it nunation, treating it as an indeclinable sound noun. The relative adjective (nisba) from al-mawlā is mawlawī; and from al-walī (the rain) is walawī, just as... [entry continues]

Wāw, lām, and yā' (و ل ي): a sound root indicating nearness. From this: al-walī (الولي) means nearness/proximity. One says: tabāʿada baʿda walā (تباعد بعد ولى) — 'it grew distant after having been near,' and 'he sat mimmā yalīnī (مما يليني)' — i.e., near me/close to me. Al-walī (الولي) is also the rain that comes after al-wasmī (الوسمي, the early autumn rain), so called because it follows (yalī) the wasmī. From this chapter also comes al-mawlā (المولى): the manumitter (al-muʿtiq المعتق) and the freedman (al-muʿtaq المعتق), the companion, the confederate (ḥalīf), the paternal cousin, the helper, and the neighbor — all of these derive from al-walī, which is nearness. And anyone who takes charge (waliya) of another's affair is his walī (وليه). 'So-and-so is awlā (أولى) with such-and-such' means he is more deserving and fitting for it. As for their saying in cursing, 'awlā laka (أولى لك)' — ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar told me: I heard Thaʿlab say that awlā here is a threat and menace, and he recited: "Threat upon threat upon threat — is there milk to be milked from one in revolt?" Al-Aṣmaʿī said: its meaning is that what would destroy him has drawn near, i.e., it has befallen him — and he recited: "So it ran alternately between two leading does of them, and it nearly (awlā) exceeded three." i.e., it came close to exceeding [three]. Thaʿlab said: no one has said anything better on awlā than what al-Aṣmaʿī said. Others said: awlā expresses regret to him over what he has missed. Al-walāʾ (الولاء) means 'the loyal followers/clients' — one says 'these are the walāʾ of so-and-so.' Al-walāʾ is also the walāʾ of the freedman: his walāʾ belongs to his manumitter, as though the manumitter is more entitled (awlā) to him in inheritance than others, if the freedman has no blood-relative heir. This is what is meant in the ḥadīth: 'He forbade selling walāʾ and gifting it.' Wālaytu bayna al-shayʾayn (واليت بين الشيئين) means I made the two things follow one another in succession (walāʾ). And 'do this ʿalā al-walāʾ (على الولاء)' means in order/consecutively. The whole chapter returns to the meaning of nearness.

Al-walāʾ (الولاء) and al-tawālī (التوالي) mean that two or more things occur such that nothing foreign to them lies between them; this is used metaphorically for nearness in respect of place, of lineage, of religion, and of friendship, support, and belief. Al-wilāya (الولاية) means support/assistance; al-walāya (الولاية) means taking charge of a matter. It is said that al-wilāya and al-walāya are like al-dilāla and al-dalāla [paired forms]; its true meaning is taking charge of a matter. Al-walī and al-mawlā are both used in this sense — each may be used in the sense of the active participle, i.e., al-muwālī (one who is loyal/allies), or in the sense of the passive participle, i.e., al-muwālā (one who is allied to). It is said of the believer: 'he is walī Allāh (God's friend/protégé),' Mighty and Exalted, without meaning 'His mawlā'; and it may also be said: God, Exalted, is the walī of the believers and their mawlā. From the first usage God, Exalted, said: 'Allāhu waliyyu alladhīna āmanū' — 'God is the walī of those who believe' (Q 2:257); 'inna waliyyiya Allāh' — 'indeed my walī is God' (Q 7:196); 'wa-Allāhu waliyyu al-muʾminīn' — 'and God is the walī of the believers' (Q 3:68); 'dhālika bi-anna Allāha mawlā alladhīna āmanū' — 'that is because God is the mawlā of those who believe' (Q 47:11); 'niʿma al-mawlā wa-niʿma al-naṣīr' — 'excellent is the mawlā, excellent the helper' (Q 8:40); 'waʿtaṣimū billāhi huwa mawlākum fa-niʿma al-mawlā' — 'hold fast to God; He is your mawlā, and excellent is the mawlā' (Q 22:78). He, Mighty and Exalted, said: 'qul yā ayyuhā alladhīna hādū in zaʿamtum annakum awliyāʾu lillāhi min dūni al-nās' — 'say: O you who are Jews, if you claim you are awliyāʾ of God, exclusive of mankind' (Q 62:6); 'wa-in taẓāharā ʿalayhi fa-inna Allāha huwa mawlāhu' — 'and if you two support one another against him, then God is indeed his mawlā' (Q 66:4); 'thumma ruddū ilā Allāhi mawlāhum al-ḥaqq' — 'then they are returned to God, their true mawlā' (Q 6:62). Al-wālī in His saying 'wa-mā lahum min dūnihi min wāl' — 'and they have no protector besides Him' (Q 13:11) — is in the sense of al-walī. God, Exalted, negated walāya between believers and disbelievers in more than one verse, saying: 'yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tattakhidhū al-yahūd...' up to His saying '...wa-man yatawallahum minkum fa-innahu minhum' — 'O you who believe, do not take the Jews... and whoever among you allies with them is indeed one of them' (Q 5:51); 'lā tattakhidhū ābāʾakum wa-ikhwānakum awliyāʾ' — 'do not take your fathers and brothers as awliyāʾ' (Q 9:23); 'wa-lā tattabiʿū min dūnihi awliyāʾ' — 'and do not follow, besides Him, [other] awliyāʾ' (Q 7:3); 'mā lakum min walāyatihim min shayʾ' — 'you have no walāya of them whatsoever' (Q 8:72); 'yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tattakhidhū ʿaduwwī wa-ʿaduwwakum awliyāʾ' — 'O you who believe, do not take My enemy and your enemy as awliyāʾ' (Q 60:1); 'tarā kathīran minhum yatawallawna alladhīna kafarū' up to '...wa-law kānū yuʾminūna billāhi wa-l-nabiyyi wa-mā unzila ilayhi mā ittakhadhūhum awliyāʾ' — 'you see many of them allying with those who disbelieve... had they believed in God and the Prophet and what was revealed to him, they would not have taken them as awliyāʾ' (Q 5:80-81). He established muwālāh between the disbelievers and the devils in this world, and negated muwālāh between them in the Hereafter. God, Exalted, said regarding their muwālāh in this world: 'al-munāfiqūna wa-l-munāfiqātu baʿḍuhum min baʿḍ' — 'the hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another' (Q 9:67); and He said: 'innahum ittakhadhū al-shayāṭīna awliyāʾa min dūni Allāh' — 'indeed they took the devils as awliyāʾ besides God' (Q 7:30); 'innā jaʿalnā al-shayāṭīna awliyāʾa lilladhīna lā yuʾminūn' — 'indeed We have made the devils awliyāʾ for those who do not believe' (Q 7:27); 'fa-qātilū awliyāʾa al-shayṭān' — 'so fight the awliyāʾ of Satan' (Q 4:76). Just as... [entry continues]

Among the names of God, Exalted: al-Walī (الولي) is 'the Helper' (al-nāṣir); it is also said to mean 'the One who takes charge of the affairs of the world and creatures, managing them.' Among His names, Mighty and Exalted, is al-Wālī (الوالي): the Owner of all things, the One who disposes of them [as He wills]. Ibn al-Athīr said: al-wilāya seems to imply management, power, and action; and where these do not all combine, the name al-Wālī does not properly apply. Ibn Sīda [said]: waliya al-shayʾ and waliya ʿalayhi — [verbal nouns] wilāya (ولاية) and walāya (ولاية). It is said: al-wilāya [with kasra] is the office/charge, like al-imāra (governorship), while al-walāya [with fatḥa] is the [abstract] verbal noun. Ibn al-Sikkīt [said]: al-wilāya, with kasra, means authority/dominion; and al-wilāya and al-walāya [both] mean support. One says: 'hum ʿalā wilāya (هم على ولاية),' meaning they are united in mutual support. Sībawayh said: al-walāya, with fatḥa, is the verbal noun, while al-wilāya, with kasra, is the noun [of office], like al-imāra and al-niqāba, because it names what one has taken charge of and undertaken; but when the verbal noun is meant, fatḥa is used. Ibn Barrī said: [the verse] 'mā lakum min wilāyatihim min shayʾ' has been read with both fatḥa and kasra, meaning 'support.' Abū al-Ḥasan said: the kasra [reading] is a dialectal variant and not the primary form. Al-Tahdhīb: Concerning His saying, Exalted: 'wa-lladhīna āmanū wa-lam yuhājirū mā lakum min walāyatihim min shayʾ' (and those who believed but did not emigrate, you have no walāya of them whatsoever) — al-Farrāʾ said: he means 'you have no share of their inheritance whatsoever.' He said: the kasra of the wāw here in 'walāyatihim' is more pleasing to me than the fatḥa, since fatḥa is used mostly when 'support' is meant. He said: al-Kisāʾī used to pronounce it with fatḥa, taking it to mean 'support.' Al-Azharī said: I do not think he knew the [correct] exegesis. Al-Farrāʾ said: they prefer kasra in 'waliytuhu wilāyatan (وليته ولاية).' He said: we have heard it with both fatḥa and kasra for al-wilāya/al-walāya, in both meanings together, and he recited [in verse]: "Leave them, for they are united against me in allegiance, and their scheming, should they know it, is ceaseless." Abū al-ʿAbbās said something similar to what al-Farrāʾ said. Al-Zajjāj said: it is read 'walāyatihim' and 'wilāyatihim,' with fatḥa and kasra of the wāw; whoever reads with fatḥa takes it to mean 'support' and 'kinship.' He said: al-wilāya in the sense equivalent to governorship is read with kasra, to distinguish the two meanings; and kasra of al-wilāya may also be permissible, since in some people's taking charge of others there is a kind of craft or occupation, and everything belonging to the category of craft — such as al-qiṣāra (fulling) and al-khiyāṭa (tailoring) — is pronounced with kasra. He said: walāya based upon faith is obligatory; the believers are awliyāʾ of one another; 'waliyy' pertains to wilāya, and 'wāl' pertains to wilāya. Al-walī (الولي) is the guardian of the orphan, who takes charge of his affairs and provides for his sufficiency. The walī of a woman is the one who conducts the marriage contract on her behalf, not permitting her to conclude the contract independently without him. In the ḥadīth: 'Whatever woman marries without the permission of her mawlā, her marriage is void' — and in another version: 'her walī,' meaning the one who takes charge of her affair. And in... [entry continues]