Meaning: allies · Also translated as: protector, a Protector, any protector, Protecting Guardian
Forms in the Quran
أَوْلِيَآءَ×34
وَلِىٍّ×20
وَلِيًّا×13
أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ×2
أَوْلِيَآءَهُۥ×2
وَلِيُّهُم×2
وَلِيُّنَا×2
لِوَلِيِّهِۦ×2
Its root in the classical dictionaries
الولاء والتوالي: أن يحصل شيئان فصاعدا حصولا ليس بينهما ما ليس منهما، ويستعار ذلك للقرب من حيث المكان، ومن حيث النسبة، ومن حيث الدين، ومن حيث الصداقة والنصرة والاعتقاد، والولاية النصرة ، والولاية: تولي الأمر، وقيل: الولاية والولاية نحو: الدلالة والدلالة، وحقيقته: تولي الأمر. والولي والمولى يستعملان في ذلك كل واحد منهما…
الواو واللام والياء: أصل صحيح يدل على قرب. من ذلك الولي: القرب. يقال: تباعد بعد ولي، أي قرب. وجلس مما يليني، أي يقاربني. والولي: المطر يجيء بعد الوسمي، سمي بذلك لأنه يلي الوسمي.
They will in no wise
Frustrate (His design) on earth,
Nor have they protectors
Besides God! Their penalty
Will be doubled! They lost
The power to hear,
And they did not see!
"O my Lord! Thou hast
Indeed bestowed on me
Some power, and taught me
Something of the interpretation
Of dreams and events,—O Thou
Creator of the heavens
And the earth! Thou art
My Protector in this world
And in the Hereafter.
Take Thou my soul (at death)
As one submitting to Thy Will
(As a Muslim), and unite me
With the righteous."
Say: "Who is the Lord and Sustainer
Of the heavens and the earth?"
Say: "(It is) God."
Say: "Do ye then take
(For worship) protectors other
Than Him, such as have
No power either for good
Or for harm to themselves?"
Say: "Are the blind equal
With those who see?
Or the depths of darkness
Equal with Light?"
Or do they assign to God
Partners who have created
(Anything) as He has created,
So that the creation seemed
To them similar?
Say: "God is the Creator
Of all things: He is
The One, the Supreme and
Irresistible."
Thus have We revealed it
To be a judgment of authority
In Arabic. Wert thou to follow
Their (vain) desires after the knowledge
Which hath reached thee,
Then wouldst thou find
Neither protector nor defender
Against God.
By God, We (also) sent
(Our apostles) to Peoples
Before thee; but Satan
Made, (to the wicked),
Their own acts seem alluring:
He is also their patron to-day,
But they shall have
A most grievous penalty.
Nor take life—which God
Has made sacred—except
For just cause. And if
Anyone is slain wrongfully,
We have given his heir
Authority (to demand Qiṣāṣ
Or to forgive): but let him
Not exceed bounds in the matter
Of taking life; for he
Is helped (by the Law).
It is he whom God guides,
That is on true guidance;
But he whom He leaves
Astray—for such wilt thou
Find no protector besides Him.
On the Day of Judgment
We shall gather them together,
Prone on their faces,
Blind, dumb, and deaf:
Their abode will be Hell:
Every time it shows abatement,
We shall increase for them
The fierceness of the Fire.
Say: "Praise be to God,
Who begets no son,
And has no partner
In (His) dominion:
Nor (needs) He any
To protect Him from
humiliation:
Yea, magnify Him
For His greatness and glory!"
Thou wouldst have seen
The sun, when it rose,
Declining to the right
From their Cave, and when
It set, turning away
From them to the left,
While they lay in the open
Space in the midst
Of the Cave. Such are
Among the Signs of God:
He whom God guides
Is rightly guided; but he
Whom God leaves to stray,—
For him wilt thou find
No protector to lead him
To the Right Way.
Say: "God knows best
How long they stayed:
With Him is (the knowledge
Of) the secrets of the heavens
And the earth: how clearly
He sees, how finely He hears
(Everything)! They have no protector
Other than Him; nor does
He share His Command
With any person whatsoever.
Behold! We said
To the angels, "Bow down
To Adam": they bowed down
Except Iblīs. He was
One of the Jinns, and he
Broke the Command
Of his Lord.
Will ye then take him
And his progeny as protectors
Rather than Me? And they
Are enemies to you!
Evil would be the exchange
For the wrong-doers!
Do the Unbelievers think
That they can take
My servants as protectors
Besides Me? Verily We
Have prepared Hell
For the Unbelievers
For (their) entertainment.
They will say: "Glory to Thee!
Not meet was it for us
That we should take
For protectors others besides Thee:
But Thou didst bestow,
On them and their fathers,
Good things (in life), until
They forgot the Message:
For they were a people
(Worthless and) lost."
They said: "Swear
A mutual oath by God
That we shall make
A secret night attack
On him and his people,
And that we shall then
Say to his heir (when he
Seeks vengeance), 'We were not
Present at the slaughter
Of his people, and we are
Positively telling the truth'."
The parable of those who
Take protectors other than God
Is that of the Spider,
Who builds (to itself)
A house; but truly
The flimsiest of houses
Is the Spider's house;—
If they but knew.
It is God Who has
Created the heavens
And the earth, and all
Between them, in six Days,
And is firmly established
On the Throne (of authority):
Ye have none, besides Him,
To protect or intercede (for you):
Will ye not then
Receive admonition?