al-Walī is interpreted in ten ways:
1. By walī, a walad (child, offspring, son) is meant; as in the following verse:
{Zakariyyā supplicated}: "Grant me from Yourself a walī {that is, a walad/son}!" (Maryam 19:5)
2. By the term al-Walī, a friend with no kinship is meant; as in the following verse:
He had no walī out of humiliation {that is, a companion whose help he would need due to some incapacity that befell him}. (al-Isrāʾ 17:111)
And whoever He leads astray—you will never find for him a walī {that is, a companion} to guide him. (al-Kahf 18:17)
3. al-Walī is used in the sense of a close relative; as in the following verse:
That Day, a close one will not be able to avail another close one {that is, one close person will not benefit another; none of the disbelievers will be able to help another in the slightest}. (al-Dukhān 44:41)
For them {that is, the disbelievers}, there will not be among the walīs {disbelieving close ones} anyone to help them {that is, to protect them from punishment}, except Allah. (al-Shūrā 42:46)
For you, there is no walī {that is, a close one from among the disbelievers who could benefit you} or helper besides Allah. (al-ʿAnkabūt 29:22)
4. al-Walī is used in the sense of rabb (Lord); as in the following verses:
Say: "Shall I take as a walī (that is, a rabb) other than Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?!" (al-Anʿām 6:14)
Do not follow other walīs (that is, lords) besides Him! (al-Aʿrāf 7:3)
They have taken other walīs (that is, lords) besides Him? But Allah is the walī {that is, the Lord}. (al-Shūrā 42:9)
For they have taken the devils as walīs (that is, by obeying them, as lords) instead of Allah. (al-Aʿrāf 7:30)
Then, they will be returned to Allah, their true Mawlā (that is, their Lord). (al-Anʿām 6:62)
A similar example is found in Sūrat Yūnus.
5. By al-Walī, gods are meant; as in the following verses:
Neither what they have earned nor the walīs (that is, gods) they have taken besides Allah will avail them at all. (al-Jāthiya 45:10)
Those who take other walīs (that is, gods) besides Him... (al-Zumar 39:3)
As for those who take other walīs (that is, gods) besides Him, Allah is a Watcher over them. (al-Shūrā 42:6)
6. al-Walī is used in the sense of ʿaṣaba (agnate relatives); as in the following verse:
Indeed, I fear from my walīs (that is, my agnate relatives) after me. (Maryam 19:5)
7. Walī is used in the sense of walāya (alliance) in (false) religion and kufr (disbelief), i.e., taking disbelievers as walīs; as in the following verses:
Have you not seen those who take as walīs (that is, in matters of religion) a people with whom Allah is angry (that is, the Jews and Christians)? (al-Mujādila 58:14)
Whoever among you takes them [the Jews and Christians] as walīs (that is, in matters of religion), then he is surely one of them. (al-Māʾida 5:51)
8. Walī is used in the sense of walāya in the (true) religion; as in the following verses:
Your walī is only Allah, His Messenger... (al-Māʾida 5:55)
Allah is the walī of those who believe; He brings them out from darkness into light. (al-Baqara 2:257)
9. By walī, the one who frees a person from slavery is meant; as in the following verse:
If you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in religion and your mawālī (that is, those whom you have freed from slavery). (al-Aḥzāb 33:5)
10. Walī is used in the sense of taking awliyāʾ (friends) in matters of sincerity and goodwill; as in the following verses:
O you who have iman (faith)! Do not take the disbelievers as awliyāʾ instead of the believers {that is, do not take the disbelievers as awliyāʾ in matters of sincerity/goodwill, leaving the believers aside}! (al-Nisāʾ 4:144)
The believers should not take the disbelievers as awliyāʾ instead of the believers {that is, do not take the disbelievers as awliyāʾ in matters of sincerity/goodwill}. (Āl ʿImrān 3:28)