Shah Inayat was the head gardener of the Shalimar gardens of Lahore. These gardens are Mogul gardens. The shrine of Madho Lal Huseyn can be found there. Bullha Shah visited these gardens and as it was summer, he roamed in the mango-groves. Desirous of tasting the fruit he looked round for the guardian, but, not finding him there, he decided to help himself. To avoid the sin of stealing he looked at the ripe fruit and said: “Allah, al-Ghaneey!” (Allah, the Rich One). On the uttering of this invocation a mango fell in his hands. He repeated them several times and thus collected a few mangoes. Tying them in his scarf (a long piece of cloth wound round the shoulders…
Diwaan-e-Mo’in: Ghazal 24
Maraa ay saaqi-ye-wahdat be-daadi jor’ahaa zaan mai Ke har dam az hayaahuyash bar ayad az del-am hai hai The Saqi provides me with cups filled with the wine of unity, So that with every breath my heart keeps on shouting ‘He is!’ ‘He is!’ Magu ai khom che mi-jushi chu mai-ye-dardi to mi-rezi Magu ai nai che mi-naali chu ham khud mi-dami dar wai Don’t tell, O vessel (of the heart), why you are agitated, when you receive the wine of pain! Don’t tell, O flute, why you are complaining, when each breath returns to Him! Che baad-ast in na-midaanam jaam-e-del ba-yak jor’a Chonaan az zang saafi shod ke didam yaar raa dar wai I don’t know what kind of…
Early sufis in the Chishti order
Many people think that Khwaja Mo’inuddin Chishti is the founder of the Chishti order. This is not correct, so in the following article I intend to tell something about his spiritual ancestors and briefly something about their teachings. The Chishti order of the Sufis derives its name from Chisht (pronounce: Chesht, hence Cheshti). Chisht is a small town near Herat in Afghanistan. When travelling and arriving in Herat I intended also to visit Chisht, but it was said that the road was not safe, because of dacoits, so I abandoned the idea. The first one to call himself Chishti was Abu Ishaq Shami. As the name Shami implies he came from Syria or even from Damascus (ash-Sham). He met a…
25 short stories about the beloved of God
Story 1 Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya, the beloved of God, once asked a dervish who lived outside the city of Badaon why he lived there. The dervish replied, that a travelling companion of his had asked him to stay there till he returned. His companion had not returned till then, but he was staying there to keep his promise. Story 2 Bibi Zulaykha, the mother of Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya, often said to her son: “You will be a man of destiny some day!” He, one day on hearing this remark asked: “But when will this happen?” “When I am dead”, replied Bibi Zulaykha. Story 3 When Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliya started to live in Ghiyaspur it was a place without any human…
The Two Kings
There were once two kings, a just and an unjust; and this one had a land abounding in trees and fruits and herbs; but he let no merchant pass without robbing him of his monies and his merchandise, and the traders endured this with patience, by reason of their profit from the fatness of the earth in the means of life and its pleasantness, more by token that it was renowned for its richness in precious stones and gems. Now the just king, who loved jewels, heard of this land and sent one of his subjects thither; and it being told to the unjust king that a merchant was come to his kingdom with much money to buy jewels withal,…
Return to simplicity
There has been a single event, which has pointed out to me my conscious beginning of my inner search. It was the death of my father. I come from a family with good education, they are religious without overdoing it and my life has been a very protected one. I was 25 years old and I wanted to start a job, but the death of my father was a big shock to me. That is why I started to search, I needed to look for a meaning, I wanted to know what was the meaning of my life. A little later I was no longer satisfied with my job as an engineer, with my life in Paris, with my friends……
Sufi concept: Monday – Prophet Adam
Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi tells us, that for every day there is a prophet from among the prophets, from whom descends a secret upon the heart of the verifying witness, a secret in which you takes delight during your day and by which you know something of that which requires to be known. This only happens to those who possess a heart. Day 2: Monday If your day is Monday, then Adam is your companion in the interval of the two worlds. On Monday it is Adam who addresses you with a secret by which you come to know the reasons why the stations wax or wane. MONDAY: Arabic: al-ithnayn Divine attribute: Living Prophet: Adam Planet (Arabic): al-qamar Planet: Moon Creating…
The trunk and the thieves
One day three thieves entered the effendi’s house. The effendi had seen them and had hidden himself in a trunk. The thieves searched everywhere for something of some value. At last, discouraged, they opened the trunk. “What are you doing here in the trunk?” exclaimed one of the astonished thieves. “Excuse me,” said the Effendi politely. “Knowing that you couldn’t find anything valuable in my house, I was so ashamed that I hid myself”.
One Special Task
In jedem lebt ein Bild dessen, was er werden soll. Solange er dies nicht ist, ist nicht sein Friede voll. In each one lives an image of what he is to be. As long as he is not this, he ne’er at rest will be. [Friedrich Rückert] یکی گفت که اینجا چیزی فراموش کردهام Someone came and said: ‘I have forgotten something here.’ [Rumi: Fihi ma fihi; # 3; p. 14] Rumi answered: ‘There is one task in this world you should never forget. Even when you’d forget everything, except this one task, then it doesn’t matter. When you performed all tasks, remembered everything, and not forgot anything, but forgot that one task, then you have done nothing whatsoever’. ‘It…
Khwaja Saiyid Mohammed Gesu Daraz
Khwaja Saiyid Mohammed Gesu Daraz is one of the great Chishti Sufis. He is known and respected throughout the sub-continent of India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh. He is a disciple and a spiritual caliph of Khwaja Nasiruddin Chiragh of Delhi. He was born on the 4th of Rajab in the year 721 A.H. (which is the 30th of July 1321 C.E. according to my computer). His nickname is Abu’l Fatah. He is addressed as Sadruddin, Wali ul akbar us-Sadiq and Gesu Daraz. There are several reasons for calling him Gesu Daraz. He had very long hair and for this reason he came to be called Gesu Daraz, which means ‘one with long locks of hair’. Another reason assigned is this,…