First Sentence

"Like all literary classics, the Kitab al-'Alim wa'l-ghulam (The Book of the Master and the Disciple) is an old, yet timeless story: the initial story of one seeker's quest for and gradual realisation of the 'truth'-the spiritual knowledge and eternal life of the true 'knowers,' the 'friends of God'-and the ongoing story of their necessary return to this world in order to fulfil their responsibility to transmit that divine 'trust' and discovery to their fellow human beings, to their family and the other members of their wider community, in the ways that are appropriate to each situation."