Silsila · the chain

No one is a Sufi alone. Authority runs through an unbroken chain of transmission from master to disciple, traced back through named links to the Prophet, and initiation is entry into a specific chain, not a general enthusiasm.

The tradition next door is named for this: Kabbalah means receiving. Both hold that this material is not to be got out of books alone and not to be self-conferred — and both have spent centuries dealing with people who tried.