One of them is also the quṭb (the spiritual pole). All of these together constitute the abdāl (the substitutes).
It is said that they are called abdāl because when one of them passes away, another takes his place. One is chosen from among forty, then one is selected from three hundred to complete the number to forty. The deficiency in the three hundred is made up by one of the pure muʾmin (believers). They are called abdāl because, whenever they have a particular task, they are given the authority to appoint someone in their place. Whoever undertakes this task without their knowledge is not the ṣāḥib (holder) of this station. (Futūḥāt, 1, 214-215)
Among the four individuals—ʿĪsā, Ilyās, Idrīs, and Khiḍr—one is the quṭb. The quṭb is one of the pillars of the palace of religion. He is the pillar of the Black Stone (Ḥajar al-Aswad). Two of them are imāms. All four together are called awtād (the pegs). Allah preserves faith (īmān) through the first, sainthood (walāya) through the second, prophethood (nubuwwa) through the third, messengership (risāla) through the fourth, and through all four together, He preserves the ḥanīf religion.
The quṭb, who is one of them, never dies, that is, he does not perish. This maʿrifa (experiential knowledge) that we have explained to those who await is exclusive to the trustworthy of our path. Each of these four always has, in addition to their own existence, another person who is like their qalb (heart). These are their deputies (nāʾibs). Except for the nāʾibs, most of our friends among the walīs (friends of God) do not recognize, not only the prophets we have named, but even the quṭb, the two imāms, or the awtād. (Futūḥāt, II, 8)
All the quṭbs are named ʿAbdullah. The imāms are always ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿAbd al-Rabb. When the quṭb dies, they succeed him. They are like the viziers of the quṭb. One oversees the realm of mulk (the physical world), the other the malakūt (the spiritual world). There are also walīs called awtād. There are always four of them; they neither increase nor decrease. (Futūḥāt, II, 9)
The awtād consist of four individuals, each located in one of the four corners of the world: one in the east, one in the west, one in the north, and one in the south. Allah protects these directions through them, for these are the places upon which Allah Most High casts His gaze. (Kāshānī, 33; Jāmiʿ, 77)
The awtād are those through whom Allah protects the world, and they are four in number. They are more specific than the abdāl. The two imāms who stand to the right and left of the quṭb are among them, and the quṭb is even more specific than all of them. Abdāl is a general term for those who replace bad qualities with good ones, and refers to a specific number of people such as forty, thirty, or seven. (Mashāriq, 119)
After the Companions (ṣaḥāba), the greatest of the walīs is the quṭb. Then comes the afrād (though there is disagreement about this), then the two imāms, then the awtād, and then the abdāl. (Mashāriq, 120)
The awtād are four individuals. Their stations are the four directions of the world: east, west, north, and south. Each of their stations is in these directions. Of them, four are manifest, and four are hidden, making eight acts in total. Their manifest acts are frequent fasting, rising for worship at night while people sleep, abundant obedience, and seeking forgiveness at dawn. Their hidden acts are tawakkul (reliance upon God), tafwīḍ (entrusting affairs to God), trustworthiness, and submission. Each of them has a quṭb chosen from among themselves. (Jāmiʿ, 4)
The four awtād are ʿAbd al-Ḥayy, ʿAbd al-ʿAlīm, ʿAbd al-Murīd, and ʿAbd al-Qādir, whose original names are Idrīs, Ilyās, Khiḍr, and ʿĪsā. They are the quṭb of the world, and the awtād are their deputies. They do not experience death, illness, unconsciousness, or change. (Jāmiʿ, 105)
The awtād are always four in number; they neither increase nor decrease. We saw one of them, named Ibn Jaʿdūn, in the city of Fez, sifting flour for a wage. Through one of them, Allah protects the east, and his authority is there. The others are responsible for the west, south, and north. The division is made from the Kaʿba. Sometimes they are women, sometimes men. Their names are ʿAbd al-Ḥayy, ʿAbd al-ʿAlīm, ʿAbd al-Qādir, and ʿAbd al-Murīd. (Nabhānī, I, 39)
The awtād are four: one in the east, one in the west, one in the north, and one in the south. (Qawānīn, 102)