2 teacher-student analogies of Imam Ghazali in his Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din:
1. A teacher is like a stamp to clay and a student is like clay. If the stamp has no character, there is no impression on clay.
2. A teacher is like a cane and the student is like the shadow of the cane. How can the shadow of the cane be straight when the cane itself is crooked?