There are seven grades recognized by the Sufis of those in the spiritual hierarchy: pir, buzurg, wali, ghous, qutub, nabi, and rasul. These are the degrees which come from the inner initiations to which one becomes entitled after having the necessary outer initiations. It is beyond words to express what inner initiation means and in what form it is given. Those to whom the inner initiation is unknown may explain it as a dream or as a vision, but in reality it is something higher and greater than that. I can only explain it by saying that the definite changes which take place during one's journey through the spiritual path are initiations, and it is these initiations which include man in the spiritual hierarchy.