The idea of 'a Murshid' is not a case of giving his knowledge to someone else. It is not possible to give one's knowledge that way. So he does not pretend to be able to do that or profess to do that. His work is to help another person to find out for himself; to develop himself; to discover for himself what is true and what is not. There are no doctrines to impart. There are no principles to lay down. There are no tenets to which the lives of his pupils must be restricted. He is just a guide along the path. He is the one who kindles the light that is already in the pupil. He does not stand before the pupil as a priest; he is as a brother, colleague, friend. Being just a human person he is limited exactly as the pupil is; he is as liable to make mistakes and to have failures as anyone else. He enjoys no special authority, nor is he as one apart in holiness. "I am not more holy than such and such a person. If he is not holy, no more am I." He is not distinctive in such a respect. No, the Murshid is the friend of the mureed; he is a friend on a path which the mureed has not yet trodden.