As an adjective (rūḥānī), it means spiritual. As a noun (rūḥāniyya, pl. rūḥāniyyāt or rūḥāniyyūn), it means spiritual beings. In texts such as the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity, it refers to the angels that rule the celestial spheres. According to Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240), the rūḥāniyya is the spiritual essence of a prophet or a deceased walī whose murīd receives supernatural assistance.
