In this section of Kashf al-Mahjub, al-Hujwiri records Junayd's dictum 'شیخنا فی الأصول و البلاء علی المرتضی' — 'our master in the principles and in the bearing of affliction is Ali al-Murtada.' al-Hujwiri glosses it as a claim that Ali is the imam of the Sufi path in both its knowledge and its practice: the theoretical science of the way is termed usul (principles), while its practice (mu'amala) consists entirely of enduring bala (affliction). Ali is presented as embodying both dimensions at once, which is why he is treated as a foundational authority for Sufism. This is a specific doctrinal claim that a learner must grasp to understand why later Sufis trace their lineage of both doctrine and ascetic discipline back to Ali.