After the ‘Abbāsid Revolution of 750 CE Ismāʿīlīs came to believe that Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, son of the seventh imām and their awaited madhi, had entered a state of occultation. In his absence Ismāʿīlīs began widely propagating their faith beyond their base of power in the Levant through the institution of the da‘wa, or mission led by a dā‘ī.[1] In addition to presiding over the primary missionary activities of the da‘wa, the dā‘ī was responsible for the education, safety and spiritual health of his community. The personal relationship of the dā‘ī and his students, portrayed so vividly by Ja‘far bin Manṣūr al-Yaman in his Kitāb, would decisively influence the sheikh-murīd bond of later Sufi orders.