They are not prevented. In this matter, their precedence is not due to the path known by the scholars, but rather, in terms of kashf (unveiling) and direct witnessing, they have a deep priority in the science of the movement of the stars. The nuqabāʾ possess the knowledge of the ninth celestial sphere, while the nujabāʾ possess the knowledge of the lower, eighth sphere, which contains the spheres where the stars are found. (Futūḥāt, TI, 10)
The nujabāʾ are those tasked with rectifying people's affairs and bearing their burdens. They exercise authority not over others, but over the rights of the people. (Kāshānī, 94; Jāmiʿ, 101)
The nuqabāʾ, having realized the Bāṭin (Hidden) Name of Allah and being manifest through this Name, are those who become aware of the inner states of people and reveal what is hidden therein. Since the veils that conceal secrets are lifted for them, they know such matters... (Kāshānī, 96; Jāmiʿ, 5, 102) ...They are three hundred in number... (Kāshānī, 96)
The nuqabāʾ (the naqībs of the Sufis, that is, the supervising saints of the unseen) have ten acts: four external (ẓāhirī) and six internal (bāṭinī). Their external acts are abundant worship, realization of asceticism (zuhd), detachment from will, and spiritual struggle (mujāhada); their internal acts are tawba (repentance), ināba (turning to God), muḥāsaba (self-accounting), tafakkur (contemplation), iʿtiṣām (adherence to Allah's commands), and riyāḍa (spiritual discipline). (Jāmiʿ, 3)
The nujabāʾ (the elect) are forty in number. It is also said that they are seventy. They are occupied with the affairs of the people; however, they do not turn their gaze to any but the Truth (God). They are people of good akhlāq (character) and ʿirfān (gnosis). (Jāmiʿ, 4)
They (the nuqabāʾ) are divided into three groups: the exalted souls of ḥaqāʾiq-i amriyya (realities of command), the base souls of khalqiyya (creatureliness), and the intermediate souls of insāniyya realities (human realities). In each of these, there is a trust from Allah that contains divine and cosmic secrets. They are three hundred in number. (Jāmiʿ, 5)