1100 The forty nights' communion of Moses with Allah on the Mount may be compared with the forty-day fast of Jesus in the wilderness before he took up his ministry (Matt.
4:2), and with the forty years of Al Mustafa's preparation in life before he took up his Ministry. In each case the Prophets lived alone apart from their people, before they came into the full blaze of the events of their Ministry. 1101 When for any reason the man of God is absent from his people, his duty of leadership (khildfah) should be taken up by his brother - not necessarily a bloodbrother, but one of his society or brotherhood. The deputy should discharge it in all humility, remembering three things: f 1) that he is only a deputy, and bound to follow the directions of his Principal, (2) that right and justice are the essence of power, and (3) that mischief gets its best chance to raise its head in the absence of the Principal, and that the deputy should always guard against the traps laid for him in the Principal's absence.