In this chapter-opening passage Hujwiri begins his account of the imams of the earliest generations by presenting the Companions — the foremost of the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Helpers (Ansar) — as the first human exemplars of the Sufi path after the prophets. He assigns them three roles: forerunners (پیشرو) in spiritual dealings (معاملات), models (قدوه) in the discipline of the souls (ریاضت انفس), and guides (قواد) in spiritual states (احوال). By rooting the authority of tasawwuf in the earliest Muslim community, this framing legitimizes the later masters and sets up the individual biographical notices of the Companions that follow.