It is the duty of the one who moves about with the Imam to stick to the official position which has been assigned to him. If he is required to be in front of the Imam, he should stick to his position. He should always keep in view the distance which he is required to maintain between him and the Imam. To find this out he should never look at the Imam. He should find this out by a side glance and he should move in such a way as to keep up the official distance between him and the Imam. He should not allow anything to inter- fere with the maintenance of this distance. He should not trifle with it or neglect it. He should not divert his attention from this by talking to or looking at the passers-by or doing some such thing that may stand in his way.
He should always maintain his respect for the Imam and keep up the dignity of his behaviour. He should not talk at randum. He should not speak to the Imam unless he himself orders him to do so. This class of people should be very vigilant. They should be all attention to the Imam and should see that they are always at his beck and call. If he calls any one of them, he should run to him with his face towards him nim and ees fixed on the ground. He should hear what he says, and after doing what he is asked to do should immediately resume his position.
He should not look upon this position as a permanent affair. He should always wait for the orders of the Imam. He should look upon it as nothing but a favour from the Imam. If he is deprived of this honour, he should not be forget- ful of the previous favours of the Imam. He should not look upon his not being selected for the job as a discredit to him or a wrong move on the part of the Imam. This is as much a favour on him as the former favours of the Imam. He must bear in mind that it is left entirely to the sweet will of the Imam. Whether he does these things with a cause or without a cause, he is above criticism in these matters
If somebody else is called in his place to do the job which he used to do, he should keep back with- out being disheartened in the least. He should never entertain the idea that he has been disres- pected by the Imam in this matter. We have said somewhere else in this book that if any one is favoured or honoured by the Imams he should not think that he has got what he has got as a matter of right. He should not look upon it as an established precedent. They favour those whom they like and withdraw their favours when they like.