THE Sufi master is the representative of the esoteric function of the Prophet of Islam and by the same token the theophany of Divine Mercy which lends itself to those willing to turn to it. The shari’a, the Divine Law, is meant for all Muslims and, in fact from the Islamic view, for all men if its universal meaning is considered. But the tariqa, or spiritual Path, is only for those who seek God here and now and who search after that immutable Truth which although present here and now is also the eternal source of all revelation. The tariqa is thus a means whereby man can return to the origin of the Islamic revelation itself and become in a spiritual sense both a companion and a successor of the Prophet and the saints. The role of the spiritual master, the shaikh, murshid, or pir, is to make this spiritual rebirth and transformation possible. Being himself connected through the chain of initiation (silsila) to the Prophet and the function of initiation (walâya) 1 inherent in the prophetic mission itself, the Sufi master is able to deliver man from the narrow confines of the material world to the illimitable luminous space of the spiritual life. Through him, acting as the representative of the Prophet, spiritual death and rebirth take place by virtue of the baraka present in him. Fallen man grows old, decays and dies, whereas the regenerated spiritual man is always inwardly in the prime of youth. Having drunk from the fountain of eternal life and having gained access to the elixir of immortality he lives in the perennial spring of the soul even if his body passes through the winter of life. And that is why he is able to endow the disciple with youth, whatever age he may formally be. To behold the perfect master is to regain the ecstasy and joy of the spring of life and to be separated from the master is to experience the sorrow of old age.