Murshid
A spiritual guide or master who directs the disciple along the path to God.
Literally: guide; spiritual director
The spiritual guide who initiates and directs the disciple on the Sufi path. Iqbal upholds the value of an authentic guide — and famously took the medieval master Rumi as his own spiritual murshid in verse — while sharply criticizing the decayed, hereditary pir-ship of his day, where empty custodianship of shrines replaced living guidance toward God and self-realization.
Murid
A disciple who has pledged himself to a spiritual guide on the Sufi path.
Pir
An elder or Sufi master; the spiritual preceptor to whom disciples give allegiance.
Mureed
A disciple, a follower who submits to the guidance of a spiritual master.
Suluk
The disciplined journey of the seeker along the Sufi path toward God, traversing its stations and states.