One time, someone who was not a Muslim found a way of succeeding to the leadership of a Sufi order and began to give guidance. The disciples under his training began to advance, then one of them saw through a revelation that their guide had suffered a serious decline. With his insight, the guide told his disciple: “So you have understood.” But the disciple said: “Since it was with your guidance that I rose to this station, I shall follow you even closer from now on.” He beseeched Allah the Most High and saved his unhappy shaykh, who all of a sudden advanced, and outflanking all his disciples, again became their true guide. This means that sometimes a disciple may become the shaykh’s shaykh.
But the true skill is that when one sees his brother in a bad situation, he does not abandon him, but strengthens their brotherhood and tries to reform him. This is the mark of the loyal and faithful. Because the dissemblers want to destroy the solidarity of brothers in such situations and spoil their good opinions of each other, they say: “See, the persons you think so highly of are just common, ordinary people.” Anyway,
we have suffered much in this calamity, but since it is a matter that concerns the whole world of Islam, it is very cheap and of high value. Similar events have not been of concern for the whole Islamic world due to their being politics of religion or for other reasons.