It has been said: All these are flowers gathered from the branch of ru'yet (vision of the One, i.e., seeing Allah, the One). In these, with respect to the One, there is nothing that indicates tawhid (the oneness of God) of existence. It was Shaykh Muhyiddin Arabi who divided the matter of wahdat al-wujud (the unity of being) into chapters, sections, and further subheadings, systematizing it like the sciences of morphology and grammar. Indeed, he assigned to himself some intricate maʿrifa (experiential knowledge of God) found among these topics, and said: The seal of prophethood takes certain sciences and maʿrifa from the khātam (seal) of walāya (sainthood). By this, he means himself as the seal of Muhammadan walāya. The commentators, in the context of explaining this sentence, have said: If the sultan takes something from his treasurer, what is diminished from the treasurer? 1162 wahdat al-wujud-wahdat al-shuhud
In summary, there is no need for tawhid al-wujudi (the oneness of existence) for the realization of fanāʾ (annihilation in God) and baqāʾ (subsistence in God), nor for the attainment of minor and major walāya (sainthood). On the contrary, in the verification of fanāʾ...