Sanctity in the Thoughts of Shams-i Tabrīzī and its Reflection in the Works of Sultan Walad

After believing in the unity of Allah, the issue of “Saint and Sanctity” is one of the most fundamental issues in Islamic mysticism ideology. Saint literally means closeness, affection, victory, seigniory, etc.; however, in Sufism terminology it means the one who goes through denying human traits and worshiping Allah to achieve a higher form of life. Shams-i Tabrīzī and his devotee, Sultan Walad, like most of mystics, believe that saint is the one who becomes united with Allah. In their beliefs although knowing the real saint is even harder than knowing Allah, real aficionados should truly know the saints and avoid following dishonest plaintiffs. Moreover, both of them categorized the saints into two groups of “hidden” and “well-known”. In their views, even though all the saints came from one source, each receive their share from Allah based on their innate capacity. Further, the place of the “beloved” is higher than “lovers”. Besides, the Pole is considered as the king of saints who is the ultimate purpose of the creation. This study investigated the influence of Shams-i Tabrīzī on Sultan Wald regarding to the issue of sanctity.