The Abdal — The Forty Substitutes

The Abdal (“substitutes,” singular Badal) are forty hidden saints who, by Sufi tradition, hold the world in being. They are scattered across the earth — most in Syria (the Levant being their traditional dwelling place), but found everywhere. When one dies, another is immediately appointed by divine designation; the number remains constant. They are called “substitutes” because they substitute for ordinary humanity in the work of bearing witness, in the prayer that holds back catastrophe, and in the unceasing remembrance (dhikr) that keeps the divine name present in the world.

The Abdal travel widely; they appear and disappear; some can be in two places at once. Many great Sufis (Hasan al-Basri, al-Khidr, the early Companions) are claimed for the rank. They are recognizable, if recognizable at all, by miraculous karamat — but they hide these. They are the hands and feet of the Qutb, the army of light that operates the world’s inner machinery.

Biblical Parallels: The Abdal correspond exactly to the Jewish tradition of the Lamed-Vavnik — the 36 hidden righteous (tzadikim nistarim) for whose sake God preserves the world. The number is different (40 vs. 36) but the function is identical. They also parallel the 7,000 in Israel “who have not bowed the knee to Baal” of 1 Kings 19:18 — the unseen remnant by whom God preserves a faithless nation. Christian tradition has the anonymi — the unknown saints — and Paul’s “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1).

Cross-Tradition: The Abdal parallel the Chinese Eight Immortals (the Baxian) who travel in disguise and appear at moments of crisis. They parallel the Tibetan mahasiddhas (the eighty-four accomplished ones) who lived hidden lives and worked subtle miracles. In Native American traditions, the hidden medicine people — and the Heyoka or sacred clowns — perform analogous work of cosmic balance.