As-Salaam alaikum,
Given his spiritual office, since the beginning of the human odyssey until its end, as the spiritual Master of the Universe, the Awliya see/accept the Noble Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, as the Saqi (cupbearer) on the Path to Allah's Divine Presence. This is because they receive every illumination, every intoxication of love from his cup. In this regard, Sheikh 'Abd al- Karim al-Jili, may Allah be Merciful to him, writes in his 'Al-Insan Kamil: --

''Every Saint drinks from the Muhammadan cup. None reaches Allah except through
the Light of Muhammad, for he is the bridge between the Hidden and the manifest.''

This is why the Sufis constantly send Salawaat upon him not merely as ritual, but as a request for another cup from his cup. Each blessing upon him renews the flow of light into the heart, as Allah Ta'ala says: --

''INDEED, ALLAH AND HIS ANGELS SEND BLESSINGS UPON THE PROPHET.
O YOU WHO BELIEVE, SEND BLESSINGS UPON HIM AND GREETINGS OF PEACE'' (Ahzab, 33:56)

In truth, Salawaat is the fragrance of that eternal wine.... When the lover sends blessings, the cupbearer sends back light into his heart. The Saints say: 'The Salawaat of the lover becomes the wine of his soul. Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi, may Allah be Merciful to him, expressed this mystery: ''The remembrance of Muhammad is the remembrance of Allah, for through him the wine of divine nearness flows to the hearts.''

In the 'Tadhkirat al-Awliya', Imam Farid al-Din Attar, may Allah be Merciful to him, observed that ''the cupbearer of the soul passed among the spirits, pouring the wine of love, some sipped and became Saints, some refused and remained veiled''. This eternal act of pouring continues until today. In every Zikr Majlis, in every tear of repentance, in every heart that trembles with longing, the unseen hand of the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, offers the cup anew.