Saiyid Athar Abbas RizviThis work seeks to study sufism as a Psycho-historical phenomenon. The author finds it efficacious to combat social and politicaluptieavals which are brought about by projon, ged political Tevolutions, associated with autocratic Oppression economic deprivation, It is divided into two volumes, The present volume outlines the history of sufism before it was firmly established in India and then goes on to discuss the principal trends in sufi developments there from the thirteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. Chronologically it is concerned with sufi history from the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate to the beginning of the Mughal empire. Naturally it Jays great emphasis on the Chishtiyya, Subrawardiyya, Firdausiyya and Kubrawiyya orders, but the contributions made by qalandars and legendary and semi-legendary saints have also not been neglected. A det cussion of the interaction of medieval Hindu mystic traditions and sufism shows a unique polarity between the intolerant rigidity of the orthodox and the flexibility of the sufis in India lustration on the cover: Su/i Sama’ from the Majalisu'l ‘Ushshag by Sultan Husain written in 908/1502-03. Miniature from Bodleian MS.. ‘ated 9599/1552, Ouseley Add. 24,1. 19 R,A History of Sufism in IndiaA History of Sufism in India Vol. I Early Sufism and its History in India to 1600 aD by Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi M.A..Ph.D.. D.Litt, FLA.H, (Austratiay Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pot. Ltd,First published 1978 ©1975 Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas (b. 1921) Published by Mun New Delhi 110055, and Filmset by Oxford Printcraft India Pvt and printed by Rajbandhu Industrial Company, New Delhi 1m Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., $4 Rani Jhansi Road, Ltd. 110027,Dedicated to the memory of the Sufis and SaintsContents List of Abbreviations ix List of Mlustrations x List of Maps x Acknowledgements xi Notes on Dates xii Introduction \ Chapter One Early Sufism 18 Chapter Two The Chishtis V4 Chapter Three The Sulwawardiyya and the Firdawsiyya Sitsilas 190 Chapter Four The Chishtiyya, Subrawardivya and Kubrawiyya Centres from the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries 241 Chapter Five The Qalandars, the Martyrs and the Legendary and Semi-legendary Saints 301 Chapter Six The Interaction between Medieval Hindu Mystic Traditions Sufism 322 Chapter Seven Conclusion 397 and Appendix, A Female Sufis 401 Appendix B. Shaikh Ahmad-i Khattu Maghribi 404 Appendix C The Sufis of the South Indian Coast and Islands 409 Bibliography 413 Index 433Abu Nuaim Ain Arberry 11 (new edition) Ethe er Ibn al-‘Imad Ivanow Ivanow (Curzon) Jamali Kalimat kM Macauliffe Nicholson Nu Qushairi sa Storey Sulami yateti List of Abbreviations Akhbarw'l-Akhyar by Shaikh *Abdu'l-Hagq Muhaddis Dihlawi Hilvat al-Auliva’ by Abu Nu‘aim. Ain-i Akbari by Shaikh Abu'l-Fazl ‘Allami. Muslim saints and mystics by A.J. Arberry. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the library of the India office. Favvai'du'l-Fwad by Amir Hasan Sijzi. Shazrat al-Zahb by Von al-"Imad. Concise descriptive catalogue of the Persian manuseripts in the collection of the Asiatic society of Bengal by W. Ivanow. Concise descriptive catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the Curzon collection, Asiatic society of Bengal by W. Ixanow. Sivarw'l-‘Arifin by Jamali Kanbo Dihlawi Kalimatw's-Sadiqin by Muhammad Sagiq Kashmiri Khariu'l-Majalis by Hamid Qalandar. The Sikh religion by M.A. Macauliffe. English translation of the Kashfal-Mahjub by R.A. Nicholson. Kitab Nafahat al-Uns by “Abdu't Rahman Jami. Ar-Risalat al-Qushairivya by Abw'l-Qasim Qushaiti. Siyaru'l-Auliva’ by Amir Khwurd. Persian literature. A_ bio-bibliog CA. Storey, Tabagat al-Sufiyya by al-Sulami, Mir‘at al-Janan by al-Yate'i. raphical survey by} | List of Illustrations - Sufi Sama’ from the Majalisu’l “Ushshaq by Sultan Husain written in 908/1502-3. Miniature from Bodleian Ms., dated 959/1552, Ouscley Add. 24, £. 119 R. coloured, on dust-jacket and fucing p. 91 . Iraqi with the Qalandars from the Majalisu'lUshshaq. Miniature from Bodleian Ms., dated 959/1552, Ouseley Add. 24, f. 79 R coloured, facing p. 203 3. An imaginary gathering of eminent Sufis. XVII century miniature in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. black & white, facing p. 277 4, Babur visiting Gorakhattri. XVI century, from Babur Nama in British Museum, London. black & white, facing p. 369 List of Maps 1. Perso-Islamie World facing p. 1 2. Sind wa Hind (India). facing p. 17Acknowledgements HE author wishes to express his deep sense of gratitude to the librarians of the libraries and museums in the U.K., Europe, the middle east, and south-east Asia who gave him access to their valuable collections, Special thanks are due to the librarians who supplied microfilm copies of their manuscripts or published works. Mr Devendra Jain of Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, deserves the author's special thanks for not only agreeing to publish this work but also for prompting him from time to time to complete it expeditiously. Miss Stephanie Alsaker, the author's research assistant, took great pains in revising the drafts and making them presentable to readers. Miss Josephine Anderson typed the manuscript with proficiency and enthusiasm. The author wishes to thank them, along with the printers and proof-readers whose labours enabled the work to see the light of day. S.A.A. RIZVI 1 January, 1978. Department of Asian Civilizations Australian National University Canberra, A.C.T., AustraliaNote on Dates Me™ dates are given according to the Hijra era or the event marking the Prophet Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Medina Although he arrived in Medina on 24 September 622, seventeen years later the Second Caliph ‘Umar (634-44) instituted Muslim dating on the basis of the lunar months, beginning with Muharram. Thus the first Muharram was calculated to have fallen on 16 July 622. The adoption of the lunar calendar leads to the loss of one year every thirty-three years of the Roman calendar. Hence 1392 Hijra (#1) or Anno Hegirae (AH) begins in 1972 ap and not in 2014. Of the two dates separated by an oblique in this book, the first is the Hijra (1) or Anno Hegirae (an) and the second is ap. Where neither 4. nor ab is mentioned alongwith dates, AD is invariably implied Alll equivalent dates have been taken from Wustenfeld-Mahler’ sche Vergleichungs-Tabellen.a na LQ WORLD SAZERBAYJAN pay 7 kmiva ezayya) “ V". BB ; hs a) “waragha j IR\AQ (KURDISTAN PERSO-ISLAMIC _SSR Ardabile Sultaniyyae =P Maz, Qazvine Sona Tehran Batra MEDIA, ” Hamadan «save Br? dascishiin Sev *Kicmanghah | Que *Ninavand ‘Khurramabad LURISTAN. oKm *Sieman DASHT-1- KAVIR TURKMEN Qa = Seastarabad +Shahrud *Damghan sashan ye stun IRAN slsfahan eI “Yous ak Psapeae Kiran, «Persepolis, Shires KIRMAN FARS sFiruzabaa GULF OF UMAN ARAL SEA Khwarazms (Riva) SSR Ra AN, S iG G 7 os at vo Birjana \ AFGHANISTAN ( \ a 5 f neg sistany é r 7 ae j / £ 3 VoL Ni \. PAKISTAN as 7” MAKRAN ARABIAN SEA KAZAKH SSR fsap0%0,) oeIntroduction HE terms, sufi, Wali-Allah (protégé of God), dervish and fagir, are applied to Muslim spiritualists who attempt to achieve a development of their intuitive faculties through ascetic exercises, contemplation, renunciation and self-denial. There is no doubt that sufism or Tasawwuf conjures up images of such institutions and customs as saint cults, fascina- tion with the occult, thaumaturgic and orgiastic practices, a mysterious world of visions and miracles, erotic poems and lascivious dancing, However, a significant section of sufis managed to help their followers to stabilize their emotions and to inculcate an understanding among different groups within the Muslim community. By the twelfth century sufism had become a universal aspect of Islamic social life whose influence had spread to all Muslims. There were also an important number of sufis who, transcending religious, and communal distinctions, promoted the interests of humanity at large. On the whole, sufism gave meaning and mission to the religious feelings and beliefs of a wide cross-section of society, both in India and in many pagts of the Islamic world. The present work seeks to study sufism as a psycho-historical pheno- enon, the author seeing it asa potential force to meet social and political Challenges produced by protracted political upheavals, associated with autocratic oppression and economic deprivation, It is divided into two volumes. ‘The first volume outlines the history of sufism before it was firmly established in India and then goes on to discuss the principal trends in sufi developments there from the ‘thirteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Chronologically it is concerned with sufi history from the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate to the beginning of the Mughal empire, Naturally it lays great emphasis on the Chishtiyya, Subrawardiyya, Firdausiyya and Kubrawiyya orders, but the contribu- tions made by qalandars and legendary and semi-legendary saints have not been neglected. A detailed discussion of the interaction of medie- val Hindu mystic traditions and sufism shows a unique polarity between the intolerant rigidity of the orthodox and the flexibility of the sufis in India. ‘The fifteenth century also saw the introduction to India of the Shattari\ 2 ’ A History of Sufism in India and the Qadiri orders. These orders, along with the Nagshbandis and Chishtis, will be-discussed in the second volume. This will also outline the impact of Indian sufis on the contemporary Islamic world, concludir with the influence of modernism on sufism in India. Mainly concentrating on the development of Indian sufi orders and their internal conflicts and external threats, the two volumes deal with only the most important personalities of each order, their basic teachings and their contributions to religious, mystical, social, economic and political thought. They are not intended to be a directory of Indian sufis. A History of Sufism in India, Vols. 1 and I, have been based mainly on Arabic and Persian sources, but they have also drawn on sufi works in the main regional Indian languages. Research scholars of this century, particularly during the period after the Second World War, have brought to light a large number of original sources on Islamic religion, philosophy. mysticism and sociology. Some of these have been published, others await publication. A few have been translated into English and European languages. Microfilm facilities have made even remote libraries accessible to scholars throughout the world. Such extensive collections as those of Sir Salar Jang of Hyderabad, Nauwab Habibu'r-Rahman Khan Shirwa of Habibganj, Aligarh, and of Professor Hafiz Mahmud Shirani in Lahore, have now been deposited in various libraries and museums and can therefore be researched by scholars. However many works, especially those in Persian and Arabic published last century, are still in private collections and remain beyond the reach of scholars. The present work and its second volume use material available in public libraries in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia. This has been collected and analyzed over a period of twenty years and the present volume committed to paper only during 1973-74. In order to maint uniformity, as far as possible, references have been made to manuscripts and books available in public libraries. Thus. many works published in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and available only to a fortunate few have been by-passed in favour of their manuscript Copies to be found in libraries available to all. Printed material from such libraries as that of the India Office, London, has been rapidly di appearing and it has therefore been considered prudent to refer to manu- script material which has been more carefully preserved. Moreover, the ‘manuscripts used as source material for this work are older and more reliable than the nineteenth and early twentieth century publications, some of which were neither carefully edited nor accurately printed. A large number of these publications even fail to mention manuscripts from which the editions were prepared. The material used for this work can be divided into the following categories 1. Treatises in prose and verse written by leading sufis who are dis-Introduction cussed in this book Letters written by leading sufis, Sufi discourses known as malfitzat Doctrinal works based on the above three categories. Sufi biographical dictionaries. Histories; and the biographies of nobles and poets. Medieval geographies and accounts written by travellers, sailors and pilgrims. 4. 5 6. 7, In the first chapter of this volume we have discussed the evolution of sufi literature. In subsequent chapters, mystic literature written by Indian sufis has also been described. Here we give an analysis of the Persian sufi, malfucat and the biographical dictionaries which are principal sources for this work. The discourses delivered by a leading sufi to a select gathering of sufi disciples and visitors gave rise to a distinctive genre of Persian literature. This was known as malfuzat (conversations or discourses) which also contained didactic poetry, anecdotes and apophthegms. There were two classes of compilations of authentic discourses. Firstly there were discourses which were collected by a descendant or disciple of the sufi long after his death and which were generally divided into such sections as a brief biographical sketch, main teachings, miracles and an account of the type of contemplation and ascetic exercises undertaken by the Shaikh. Such works were based on the anecdotes which members of the sufi’s family and his disciples remembered and sometimes letters exchanged with important personalities would also be incorporated. The flavour of this type of literature differed little from that of Christian hagiological works The most dependable are the malfirzat of the second category which consisted of discourses recorded soon after they were delivered by a pir and which were also dated. At times sufi masters revised the dratt themselves and confirmed the accuracy, or otherwise, of these statements ‘The earliest known book in the first category is the Halat wa Sulshanan. Shaikh Abu Sa‘id bin Abu'l Khair! of Mayhana (Mehna or Meana). It was the work of Jamalu'd-Din Abu Rub, a great-grandson of Shaikh Abu Sa‘id. The author's cousin, Muhammad bin Munawwar bin Abi (Abu) Sa’id bin Abi Tahir bin Abi Sa’id, wrote a longer work incorporat- ng a large part of his predecessor's work, calling it Asraru’t-Tawhid Fi Magamat-i Shaikh Abi Sa‘id. It was started in $48/1153-54, but not until around 570/1174~75 was it completed and dedicated by its author to the Ghurid Sultan Ghiyasu’d-Din (1163-1203). The work is divided into three sections. The first (pp. 3-42) gives an account of the early life of Shaikh Abu Sa'id and the second section deals with the Shaikh as a "Details of editions and manuscripts may be scen in the Bibliography.4 A History of Sufism in India middle-aged man. This part is further sub-divided into three chapters the first and largest chapter (pp. 45-204) deals with the miracles of Shaikh Abu Sa‘id; the second chapter (pp. 207-94) discusses anecdotes of other sufis related by the Shaikh; and the third chapter (pp. 295-344) contains miscellaneous teachings of the Shaikh. The third section deals with the old age and death of the Shaikh. This is also sub-divided into three chapters: the first (pp. 347-53) contains the Shaikh’s last testament; the second (pp. 354-60) is an account of his death and the third (pp. 361-92) describes his miracles. The Asraru't-Tawhid was designed to glorify the mystical achieve- ments of Shaikh Abu Sa‘id and presents him as a supernatural being © Nevertheless, glimpses of the economic and social life of the Shaikh which tend to emerge accidentally are both informative and entertaining To cater for the spiritual curiosity of gullible admirers, the spurious ‘malfuzat of the great Indian Chishtis were embroidered by anonymous authors who were bereft of either a feeling for history or a first-hand knowledge of the lives of their heroes. Some of these works are: 1. The Anisu't-Arwah, the alleged discourses of Shaikh ‘Usman Harwani; the authorship attributed to Shaikh Mu‘inu’d-Din Sijzi. 2. The Dalilu’l-‘Arifin, the alleged discourses of Shaikh Mu‘inu'd-Din; the authorship attributed to Shaikh Qutbu’d-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki 3. The Fawa’idu’s-Salikin, the alleged discourses of Shaikh Qutbu'd- Din Bakhtiyar Kaki; the authorship attributed to Shaikh Faridu'd- Din. 4, The Asraru’I-Auliya’, the alleged discourses of Shaikh Faridu'd-Din; the authorship attributed to his son-in-law, Maulana Badr Ishaq. 5. The Rahatu'l-Qulub, the alleged discourses of Shaikh Faridu’d-Din; the authorship attributed to Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ 6. The Afzalu'l-Fawa’id, the alleged discourses of Shaikh Nizamu'd- Din Auliya’; the authorship attributed to Amir Khusraw. 7. The Miftahu'l-'Ashigin, thealleged conversations of Shaikh Nasiru'd. Din Chiragh-i Dihli; the authorship attributed to Muhibbu'llah.! In the fourteenth century this literature greatly increased, mainly spurred on by a need for information about the carly Chishti saints down to the period of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’. On 15 Muharram 710/20 September 1301 a visitor to the Shaikh referred to a book written by him. The latter, however, denied having written anything at all? His disciple, Shaikh Nasiru'd-Din Chiragh-i Dihli, also categorically refuted that any of his predecessors had written sufi texts. He added that the malfuzat of Shaikh Qutbu’d-Din and Shaikh ‘Usman Harwani were not available For a detailed discussion on these books sce M. Habib, “Chishti mystic records of the Sultanate period,’ Medieval India quarterly, Aligarh, 1, October, 1950, no. 2, pp. 1-42. 2Amir Hasan Sizi, Fawea'id-Fu‘ad, Bulandshaht, 1272/1855-56, p. 52Introduction 5 while Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ was alive or else he would have mentioned them.! Nizami has ventured the hypothesis that the fabricated works tried to fill a vacuum in the Chishti silsila caused by the transfer of the capital by Muhammad bin Tughlug from Dehli to Daulatabad in the jecean. ? The view is untenable for unauthentic sufi literature had already begun to appear by the time of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’, as the reference to his alleged work would tend to indicate; it also shows the daring of the authors who ascribed books to saints who were still living. This type of pious forgery was not peculiar to sufis, the Qussas or story tellers during the first and second centuries of Islam and the forgers of the Hadis of the Prophet Muhammad were many. The same is true of works ascribed to both earlier and later sufis. A pressing popular demand for details of teachings and miracles of sufis, especially those of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ and his predecessors, as described by Barani, were the main incentives for the output of fabricated malfuzat. 3 Although the historical sense and form of teaching ascribed to sufi leaders depicted in the unauthentic maifuzat are quite incredible, they nevertheless catered to the insatiable popular taste for details of the miracles of mystics, as well as those of yogis and dalandars. They also provided for the proselytizing militancy of many Muslims whose concerns were not really with sufism, but in the assertion of their own superiori in the field of religion. - ‘The distorted sufi image produced by these phony malfiuzat seems to have prompted Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ to urge his disciple and gifted scholar, Amir Hasan Sijzi, to complete his project of writing a ‘malfuzat. Early in 1308, Amir Hasan Sijzi decided to write the discourses of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ in diary form. On 8 Shawwal 708/18 March 1309, after the Shaikh again referred to the great benefits to be gained from the discourses, maxims and anecdotes of sufis, Amir Hasan mentioned that his pir had stressed this point so many times, that it had prompted him to compile a book of the Shaikh’s conversations. Shaikh ‘Nizamu’d-Din answered that he also had tried to write down what he had heard from Shaikh Faridu'd-Din (Baba Farid), but that he, too, had always been by what he said that he was unable to write a word.# Amir Hasan then produced a draft he had prepared of an account of the Shaikh’s, discourses over a period of thirteen months. After reading the draft, Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din praised them and filled in a few remaining gaps. ‘The book of the discourses of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ only included an account of the fifteen years up to 722/1322-23, It was known as the Fawa’idu'l-Fu'ad. Amir Hasan’s official duties often kept him Maulana Hamid Qalandar, Khairu'l-Majalis, ed. K.A. Nizami, Aligath, 1959, p. $2. 2Chishti mystic records of the Sultanate period, Medieval India quarterly, 1, no. 2, p.39, sziya'u'd-Din Barani, Tariki-i Firu: Shahi, Calcutta, 1860-62, p. 346, AFF, pp. 34-5,6 A History of Sufism in India outside Delhi but during a stay in the capital, he would attend the Shaikh’s assembly once a week. Not every week’s discourses, however, are recorded; those from the years such as 709-10/1309-10, 717-18/1317-18 and 721-22/1321-22 are only briefly mentioned; the most widely covered are the years 708-09/1308-09. Usually the discourses were on an ad hoc basis. They resulted from questions by those gathered around the Shaikh on religious, economic or social issues. The sermons included references to the Qur'an, Hadis, anecdotes and the’sayings of previous sufis and were intended to fulfill the religious and ethical needs and emotions of the audience, and were not necessarily founded on authentic sources. Never in debate form, the discourses failed to include an analysis of opposing views and were believed to bear the stamp of infallibility. This tended to produce a rigidity in the thinking of the devotees of the great Shaikh and to prevent the emergence of a detached rationality. The aphorisms of Shaikh Nizamu'd-Din on economic, social and political topics also carried great weight and tended to supplement existing literature although their views did not necessarily reverse the data provided by historians. For example, the views of Shaikh Nizamu'd- Din Auliya’ about Nur Turk’s leadership in the attempted overthrow of the government of Raziyya are not necessarily correct,! Nevertheless the conversations were written down immediately they had taken place or shortly afterwards, and were therefore a record of the spontaneous reaction of the Shaikh and an invaluable analysis of the religious, social, ethical and economic values of his period. Informative and interesting, rather than methodical, the collection of the sayings of Shaikh Hamidu’d-Din Nagauri and of his grandson Faridu'd-Din Mahmud was called the Sururu’s Sudur and was written by the long-lived grandson of Shaikh Hamidu’d-Din Nagauri. This work throws considerable light on Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq’s intense devotion to the descendants of Shaikh Hamidu’d-Din Nagauri. What emerges from the book is the image of a considerate and compas sionate ruler, in contrast to the capricious and cruel character portrayed by Barani and Ibn Battuta. The Khairu'l-Majalis by Hamid Qalandar was a significant work containing discourses by Shaikh Nasiru’d-Din. Like the Fawaidu'l-Fw'ad, its accounts are not dated. It is even more voluminous than the latter, consisting of one hundred chapters and an appendix. Shaikh Hamid first came into contact with Shaikh Nasiru’d-Din (d. 1356) in 754/1353-54 and was encouraged by him to write an account of the latter’s discourses. Earlier, a section of malfuzat written by the Shaikh’s nephew had so dis- appointed the Shaikh that he had rejected the draft. Although he had LFF, pp. 204, 212. For further discussions on this point see S.A.A. Rizvi, Religious and imellectual history of the Muslims in Akbar's reign, Delhi, 1975, p. 9Introduction - sufficient confidence in Hamid, the work was regularly supervised. The Shaikh survived for only a few years after the commencement of the book and therefore his many memories of these earlier years evoked in him traditional feelings of nostalgia. To Shaikh Nasiru’d-Din, the days of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ became the golden era in the history of the Muslims in India; he believed that both the great saint and Sultan ‘Ala’u'd-Din Khalji had achieved the highest Possible standards in religion and statecraft respectively. The confusion and consternation produced by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq’s religious policies among a section of Delhi's religious élite was replaced by the orthodoxy of Sultan Firuz, but neither the reversal of the former policies, nor the new liberal grants to khangahs satisfied the aged Nasiru’d-Din Chiragh. Although one can lament the lack of dates in the Khairu'l-Majalis iscourses, a compendium of the ethics of Chishtis, give a lively picture of the changing pattern of their attitude towards social and economic dilemmas. The Fawaidu'/-Fu'ad and the Khairu'l-Majalis are the best examples of the art of malfuzat writing. Following a precedent established by the disciples of Shaikh Nizamu’d- Din Auliya’ and Shaikh Nasiru'd-Din, the compiling of malfuzar became an important feature of khanqah life. Among those books which have survived are the Ahsanu’l-Aqwal, discourses of Shaikh Burhanu’d-Din Gharib and the Jawami‘u'l-Kilam, those of Saiyid Muhammad Daraz. The malficzat of Shaikh Husamu’d-Din Manikpuri, the Rafigu’l ‘Arifin, have also been discovered and give interesting insights into ‘Chishti centres in small towns. The malfuzat of Saiyid Muhammad Ashraf Jahangir Simnani of Kichaucha written by his disciple Nizamu’d-Din Yamani, is a lengthy work. It features an introduction and sixty chapters, called Latifas (Elegant Sayings). Besides giving a brief account of the Saiyid’s travels, it-discusses all the traditional topics of interest to sufis and is therefore a significant encyclopaedia of their ideas. It also manages to combine, most skilfully, Irani elements of sufism with their counterparts in India Malfuzat-i Ashrafi, by Nizam Haiji, is largely based on the Lata’ Ashrafi, but its author also adds some new material on sufism, A Shaikh ‘Abdu'l-Quddus Gangohi wrote the malfuzar of Shaikh Ahmad “Abdw'l-Hagq of Rudauli and Shaikh Ruknu’d-Din, the son of Shaikh “Abdu'l-Quddus Ganigohi, was the author of his father’s malfucat These works not only give a new dimension to the teachings of leading sufis but make useful additions to our knowledge of the contemporary scene and the types of lives experienced by the common people. As weil as giving glimpses into the daily routine of a khanqah, they take us down to the lower echelons of Muslim society, and show that the passivity and inertia of its members was matched only by their firm faith in Allah, Although Shaikh “Abdu'l-Haqq Muhaddis refers to the malfuzat of Shaikh Sadru'd-Din and Shaikh Ruknu’d-Din neither has survived. its8 A History of Sufism in India However short extracts from these works which were reproduced in the Akhbarw'l-Akhyar are highly informative. Largely modelled on the pattern of the Fawa idu'l-Fu’ad, though lac! the mystical sensitivity of the ideas expressed by Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’, is the collection of utterances of the celebrated Suhrawardi saint, Saiyid Abu ‘Abdu'llah Jalalu’d-Din Husain bin Ahmad Bukhari, better known as the Makhdum Jahaniyan. The account dates from Sunday 8 Rabi' II 781/24 July 1379 and ends on Tuesday 17 Muharram 782/23 April 1380, during the time of Shaikh’s visit to Delhi. It was the work of his disciple Abu ‘Abdu'llah ‘Ala’u'd-Din ‘Ali bin Sa‘d bin Ashraf bin ‘Ali al-Quraishi al-Husaini. The Makhdum Jahaniyan encouraged the author in his undertaking and clarified particular points he could not understand. The work was called the Khulasatu'l-Alfaz Jami'w'l-'Ulum. Another of the Makhdum Jahaniyan’s disciples, Makhdumzada ‘Abdu'llah, compiled.a summary of discourses delivered by the great saint on different occasions, but these lack the pithiness of those featured in the Khulasatw'l-Alfaz. The work is entitled the Siraju'l-Hidaya. The Khazinat al-Fawa'id al Jalalaliyya, composed by Ahmad bin Ya‘qub in 752/1351 and the Kkazinah-i Jalali by Abu’ Fazl bin Ziya’ are com- pendiums of the teachings of the Makhdum Jahaniyan which, however, lack the personal touches contained in malfuzat The scholars of the Firdausiyya order also collected the discourses of their pirs. Of the malfuwzats from this order, the most notable is the Ma‘danw'l-Ma‘ani. This book contains the discourses of Shaikh Sharafu'd-Din Ahmad bin Yahya Munyari or Maneri, a profound scholar and the author of about fifteen books. His malfuzar were collected by a disciple called Zain Badr ‘Arabi. The work contains discourses delivered by the Shaikh between 15 Sha‘ban 749/8 November 1348 and the end of Shawwal 751/December 1350. Like the Fawa'idu'l-Fu’ad, the sermons in the Ma’danu'l-Ma’‘ani are related with deep mystical insight and the work is colourful yet reverential in style. Another collection of Shaikh Sharafu'd-Din’s discourses produced in 762/1360-61 is entitled Malfic-i Safar. It includes an illuminating refer- ence to the second expedition of Sultan Firuz to Bengal. Travelling from Jaunpur towards Orissa, via Bihar, the Sultan and his army aroused panic and terror among the masses in Bihar and the Shaikh advised them to remain in their houses for protection. There is also a reference to a Bengali Sultan named Ikhtiyaru’d-Din Ghazi, who issued his own coins between 750/1349-50 and 753/1352-53 but is otherwise unknown Salah Mukhlis' Dawud Khani, another disciple of Shaikh Sharafu'd- Din, spent some time in arranging in book form the discourses of his pir. These included those given between 21 Sha‘ban 774/15 February 1373 and 1 Muharram 775/23 June 1373. Another collection of the Shaikh’s discourses, the Ganj-i La Yafna was also compiled. Those by a later Firdausiyya saint from Bihar, Shaikh Husain Mu‘izz. Balkhi, were also 4 |Introduction ° collected under a similar title, the Gany: The earliest known biographical dictionary of sufis written in India is the Siyaru'l-Auliya’ fi Muhabbat al-Hagq jalla wa'-ala’, simply known as the Siyaru't-Auliya’, which was the work of Saiyid Muhammad bin Mubarak bin Muhammad ‘Alwi Kirmani. Known as Amir or Mir Khwurd, the Saiyid was the grandson of Saiyid Muhammad bin Mahmud Kirmani, a merchant who traded hetween Kirman in Iran and Lahore. During business trips to Lahore via Ajodhan, he would call on Shaikh Faridu’d-Din Ganj-i Shakar, who was known as Baba Farid, and on one occasion became his-disciple. Saiyid Ahmad Kirmani, an uncle of Saiyid Muhammad bin Mahmud, an officer in the Multan mint, married his daughter to Saiyid Muhammad. Although his father-in-law pressed him to remain in Multan, the Saiyid finally settled in Ajodhan and for about eighteen years loyally served his pir. After Baba Farid’s death, the Shaikh and his sons migrated to Delhi and became great companions of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ Saiyid Muhammad died in 711/1311-12. His eldest son, the father of Amir Khwurd, was also a disciple of Baba Farid and seems to have obtained initiation from Khwaja Qutbu’d-Din Maudud, the son of Khwaja Abu Yusuf of Chisht. His devotion to Shaikh Nizamu'd-Din Auliya’ was also great ‘Amir Khwurd obtained a high degree of scholastic education, however, the serenity of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’s jama‘at-khana had filled him with a fervent love for mysticism. Despite Amir Khwurd’s youth, Shaikh Nizamu'd-Din Auliya’ made him his disciple. His association with such literary giants as Amir Khustaw, Amir Hasan, Fakhru’d-Din Zarradi and Ziya’u’d-Din Barani helped to develop his own intellectual and mystical sensitivities. In 1327 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlug, for reasons which will be explained at greater length, forced the *ulama’ and sufis to migrate to Daulatabad. Amir Khwurd was a reluctant participant in this mase exodus of the élite. After a few years, along with others, he was allowed to return but for him it came too late; the life of an exile had filled him with deep bitterness and disappointment. Previously he had assidu avoided becoming a disciple of Delhi's great Shaikh, Nasirw'd-Din, but after his return he did so, in an attempt to find some form of spiritual comfort at the jama‘ar-khana, of Shaikh Nizamu'd-Din Auliya’s successor. Still bearing the marks of his exile, Amir Khwurd decided to unburden his personal frustrations by writing biographies of the Chishti saints. He wrote a detailed biography of Shaikh Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’, with refer. ence to his many disciples and to his teachings. His material was based on first-hand information and he had access to the papers of the great Shaikh, This task was performed by Amir Khwurd with tremendous enthusiasm and devotion. Carefully he tried to avoid details of miracles and super- i La Yakhfa. ously10 A History of Sufism in India natural feats, much in demand at the time, but could not restrain himself from recording that each night during the Shaikh’s lifetime a flying camel had stopped at the window to take Nizamu’d-Din Auliya’ to the Ka’ba and bring him back in time for early breakfast. Regarding the conflicts between the Delhi saints and Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq, naturally ‘Amir Khwurd tended to side with the former, as he himself was personally involved in the struggle. However, reading between the lines it is not difficult to assess that by that time sufis in Delhi had tended to depart from the traditions established by the early Chishtis and had become used to the way of life in the capital and were therefore less than keen to depart toa more hostile and alien environment in the Deccan. Despite Amir Khwurd’s subjective judgments, the work presents an overall picture of the private and public lives of sufis during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The inner feelings of the sufis are bared. Their lives both in the jama‘at-khanas and their own houses are exposed and both their friends and enemies are introduced. From the pages can be gleaned ideas about the many groups in Delhi society: members of the court, the princes, the governing classes, the ‘ulama’, merc! agri- culturalists, artisans and the common Muslims. It shows that the lives of Muslims in that affluent eastern capital, continually replenished by the proceeds from booty and plunder, were burdened by serious problems. Accommodation was one of the gravest difficulties encountered by the average citizen in Delhi and employment in the metropolis was exceed- ingly hard to find. The Siyaru’l-Auliya’, the most authentic record of about half a century of life in Delhi, stresses the social and economic tensions caused by many divergent influences and through religious conflicts. The Khulasatw'l-Managib by Ja‘far Badakhshi, a disciple of Mir Saiyid ‘Ali Hamadani, is an interesting collection of stories said to have been related by the author's pir, and also incorporates anecdotes and legends about, and verses composed by, other Irani sufis. From these stories, one can gather that the Mir held an exaggerated idea of his own importance. The work does not refer to the Mir’s activities in Kashmir, but it neverthe- less generally manages to portray his personility most effectively. The Khulasatu'l-Managib was started in 787/1385, however, the date of its completion is unknown. : In 831/1427-28, Muhammad ‘Ali Samani wrote a biography, the Siyar-i Muhammadi of Saiyid Muhammad bin Yusuf Husaini, who was much better known by his nick-name, Gisu Daraz. But the work, to some extent, was a failure because of its unending praise of its subject and the sequence of events which proves confusing. The Mahbubiyya by Najmu'd- Din Yusuf bin Ruknu'd-Din Muhammad Nia‘mu'llah Gardezi covers various stories in the life of the Makhdum Jahaniyan, Saiyid Jalal Bukhari, and the latter’s son, grandson and great-grandson. The Nafahatw'l-Uns min Hazaratu’l-Quds by Shaikh Nuru’d-Din ‘Abdu'r-Introduction n Rahman Jami, completed in 883/1478~79, is an enlarged version of Shaikh ‘Abdu'llah Ansari’s Tabagat al-Sufiyya. The biographies of sufis who flourished in Iran between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries based on research done by Jami are indispensable for the study of the sufis of three centuries preceding the author's own life. It also briefly discusses some Indian sufis, however, Jami's sources here were not very reliable. The Rashahat-i ‘Ainu'l Hayat of Fakhru’d-Din Husain ‘Ali bin al-Husain al-Wa‘iz Kashifi, written in 909/1503—-04, is valuable for the information. it gives on the Naqshbandis and for its clarifying of some minor points relating to the period covered in the present volume. ‘The most important work for this study, however, is the Siyaru’l al-muhaddasun, and Khatm al-Awliya’, in order of increasing precedence. The last rung is for one who was the seal of the saints, just as the Prophet Muhammad was the seal of the prophets. The rightful place of the Khatm al-Awliya’ was before God in the Kingdom of Oneness.5 Tirmizi clearly acknowledges the superiority of the prophets over the saints: ‘the prophets were saints of God before they became prophets; hence they possess both qualities, prophethood and sainthood. Nobody is their equal.’6 All eminent saints are conscious of the quality of sainthood inherent in themselves. ‘The purified heart of a pious man in which there is no sin, nor aggression, nor ill-will, nor spite,” says Tirmizi ‘leads to sainthood.’ Saints understand both the future and what is hidden from ordinary men, and Tirmizi is inclined to ascribe miraculous powers unreservedly to those who are outstanding, He say: “It is possible for saints to work miracles. The occurrence of miracles inspires in others the belief in the genuineness of the sainthood. When a miracle becomes manifest it is a sign of true sainthood. The miracle is both the proof of this genuineness and its result, for it is the saint’s genuineness that enables him to work miracles.’? ‘According to Tirmizi the conduct of prophets and saints is immaculate. He sees no reason preventing saints from equalling, and even surpassing the early Caliphs, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Tirmizi expresses the idea in the following way: ‘Who can prevent the mercy of God from even in these modern times? Nobody can chee! Do they think that there is no siddig, mustafa nowadays? Is it not known Prevailing over people kt, for it is continuous. no mugarrab, no mujtaba, no that the Mahdi® will come "ML. AlGeyoushi',“AL-Tirmighi’s theory of Saints and Sainthood’, Islamic Quarter XV, no. 1, London, January-March, 1971, p. 21. iat 2They are forty in number and surround the divine throne. 'The honest or trusted ones. They have offered their souls t them with His light; they also number forty. “These ate the sadata-awiya’, ‘masters ofthe saints” Sibid, pp.23-5. “ibid, p.26. ibid, p. 33. “Literally, guided or rightly guided, but according to Sunni traditions, ‘whois expected tris before judgement day. Ibn Khaldun gives al the op ‘on the subject and adds: It has been well known (and generally accepted inevery epoch, that atthe end of time a man from the family (of the Prop ‘© God, and He has rewarded he is the leader ortant traditions ) by all Muslims het) will without2 A History of Sufism in India towards the end of the world? Is it not said that the Seal of Saints will also come, and will bear witness on the Day of Judgement that all the saints are recipients of the mercy of God?! Tirmizi, however, reminds all saints that knowledge of the nature of lordship (rububiyya) depends on possessing the proper principles of setvantship (‘ubudiyya); ‘Anyone who is ignorant of the nature of servantship. . .is yet more ignorant of the nature of lordship Tirmizi’s teachings brought him into conflict with the authorities of his own town; he retired to Nishapur where he died some time after? 285/898 Nishapur was the leading trade centre of Khurasan and featured a daily traffic of caravans. Sacked by the Ghuzz Turks in the middle of the twelfth century, and again by the Mongols in the middle of the thirteenth, its economic recovery was meteoric. The struggle between the Shitis and the Sunnis, particularly the dominant Karrami Sunnis, was an interesting feature of the religious, Political and social history of Nishapur. But the most colourful aspects of life in the town were those connected with the sufi movement. The most outstanding of the early generations of sufis in Nishapur was Abu Hafs ‘Amr bin Salama al-Haddad. By profession a blacksmith, he Was converted to sufism through an encounter with a Jew. Abu Hal’ “Amr visited Baghdad where he is said to have amazed his fellow sufis with his eloquent Arabic. He died in his home town in 265/879. The founder of a unique path in sufism was Abu Salih Hamdun bin Ahmad bin ‘Umara al-Qassar, also of Nishapur. He was an eminent theologian and jurist. He died in 271/884-85, The path of Hamdun was that of malamat (blame). He affirmed that ‘malamat was the abandonment of all concern for one’s welfare. If the worshipper intentionally abandoned the source or his own well-being and embarked on a path of permanent misfortune, renouncing, all Pleasure, God's glory might be revealed to him, and the more he became {ail make his appearance, one who will strengthen the religion and make justice triumph. The Muslims will follow him, and he wil gain domination over the Muslim realm. He will be called the Mahdi. Following him, the Antichrist will appear, together with all the subsequent Signs of the hour (the day of judgement), as established in (the sound tradition of) the Sahil Alter (the Mahdi), ‘Isa (Jesus) will descend and kill the Antichrist. Or Jesus will descend together with the Mahdi and help him kill (the Antichrist) and have him as the leader in h Prayers." Iba Khaldun, The Mugaddimah, English translation by F. Rosenthal, New York. 1958, pp. 156-200. For the Mahdavi movement in India see S.A.A. Rizvi, Muslim revivalist ‘movements in northern India, pp. 68-134 ‘AL-Tirmidhi’s Theory of ‘Saints and Sainthood , p. 37 {For a note on his biography see Sulami, pp. 212-15: Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp. 233-35 ‘Qushair, p. 24; Massignon, pp. 256-64; Nicholson, pp. 141-42, 210-41: Arberry. pp. 243-49. ‘For notes on his biography see Sulami, pp. 105-13; Abu Nu'aim, V. pp. 229-30; Qushairi P. 18; Nicholson, pp. 123-35; Arberry, pp. 192-98.Early Sufism a separated from mankind, the more he was united with God, Blame had a great effect in making love sincere. Hujwiri sums it up like this: “In true love there is nothing sweeter than blame, because blame of the Beloved makes no impression on the lover's heart: he heeds not what strangers say, for his heart is ever faithful to the object of his love.” ““"Tis sweet to be reviled for passion’s sake.”! ‘Among the sufis of Nishapur Abu ‘Usman Sa‘id bin Isma‘il al-Hiri also rose to a considerable degree of importance. He originally came from Rayy, and at some time had lived with both Yahya ibn Mu‘az al-Razi and Shah Shuja‘ of Kirman. Al-Hiri’s associations with Yahya perfected in him the ‘station’ of hope, those with Shah Shuja‘ inculcated in him jealousy, but his discipleship under Abu Hafs’ perfected him in affection. He died at Nishapur in 298/910-11.2 ‘Abu Zakariya’ Yahya ibn Mu‘az al-Razi whose original home was at Rayy (near Tehran) finally chose Balkh for his activities as a sufi preacher. Having acquired considerable wealth from trading, he wished to return to Rayy. After losing everything in a robbery he settled in Nishapur. He was a poet and is reported to have written many books although none have survived. Yahya died in Nishapur in 258/871-72.3 Of all the Khurasan sufis, the most well-knowr Abu Yazid Tayfur ibn ‘Isa ibn Surushan of Bastam (Bistam), better known as Bayazid. His grandfather had been a Zoroastrian and his father a leading citizen of Bastam. After. completing a formal religious education, he took to wandering from country to country while continuing ascetic pursuits such as indulging in continuous vigils and hunger fasts. It is said that he met one hundred and thirteen spiritual teachers during his thirty years of roaming. This would, however, seem to be based on legend, for according to his most authentic biographers, Abu Yazid spent most of his time in Bastam, where he died in 261/874 ot 264/877-78. Only for a short period was he forced to hide because of the enmity of orthodox elements in Bastam. Junaid of Baghdad believed that Abu Yazid ranked greatest among the sufis as did Gabriel amongst the angels. Abu Yazid himself believed that God had delivered him out of the darkness of the carnal soul and the foulness of a fleshy nature. Bayazid believed that when God perceived that his qualities had been annihilated in His own attributes, He bestowed on him the name of His own presence !Nicholson, pp. 67, 125-26; NU, p. 60. 2Sulami, pp. 159-65; Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp. 244-66; Qushairi, p. 21; Nicholson, pp. 132-33; Arberry, pp. 231-35, SAL-Khatib, XV, pp. 208-12; Abu Nu'aim, X, pp. 51-70; Qus! pp. 122-23; Arberry, pp. 179-82; Massignon, pp. 238-41 P. 17; Nicholson,4 A History of Sufism in India and addressed him with His own Selfhood. Singleness became manifest; duality vanished. Ritter sums up Abu Yizid’s teachings as follows: ‘Abu Yazid was, in contrast. .with the later sufis Abu Ishaq al- Kaziruni and Abu Sa‘id bin Abi'l Khayr, a wholly introvert sufi He did not exercise, as they did, a social activity (khidmar al-fugara’), yet was ready to save humanity, by vicarious suffering, from hell... The “numinous” sense is extremely highly developed in him, together with a sense of horror and awe before the Deity, in whose presence he always felt himself an unbeliever, just about to lay aside the girdle of the magians (zunnar). His passionate aspiration is aimed at absolutely freeing himself through systematic work upon himself (Twas the smith of my own self”: haddad nafui), of all obstacles separating him from God (hujub), with the object of “attaining to Him.” He describes this process in extremely interesting auto- biographical sayings with partly grandiose images. The “world” (dunya), “light from the world” (zuhd), “worship of God” (‘ibadat), miracles (karamat), zikr, even the mystic stages (maqamat) are for him no more than so many barriers holding him from God. When he has finally shed his “I” in fana’ “‘as snakes their skin” and reached the desired stage, his changed self-consciousness is expressed in those famous hybrid utterances (shatahat) which so scandalized and shocked his contemporaries: “Subhani! Ma a'zama sha'ni” —"Glory be to me! How great is My Majesty!”; “Thy obedience to me is greater than my obedience to Thee”; “I am the throne and the foot- stool”; “I am the Well-preserved Tablet” ; “I saw the Ka‘ba walking round me”; and so on. In meditation he made flights into the ‘supersensible world; these earned him the censure that he claimed to have experienced a mi‘rajin the same way as the Prophet. He was in the course of them decorated by God with His Singleness (wahdaniyya) and clothed with His ‘I-ness’ (ananiyya), but shrank from showing himself in that state to men; or flew with the wings of everlastingness (daymumiyya) through the air of ‘no-quality’ (la- kayfiyya) to the ground of eternity (azaliyya) and saw the tree on ‘One-ness’ (ahadiyya), to realise that “all that was illusion” or that it “was himself” who was all that, etc. In such utterances he appears to have reached the ultimate problem of all mysticism."! Abu Yazid’s theory of fana’ or the total destruction of the empirical self in God is not the only point of similarity between his teachings and those of the Upanishads. His advocacy of understanding of the controlled use of breath was also Indian, Some hagiologists suggest that Bayazid learnt the doctrine of fana’ from his teacher Abu ‘Ali Sindi. Among modern scholars Nicholson and R.C. Zaehner support this theory, while ‘Encyclopaedia of Islam (new edition), 1, pp. 162-63.Early Sufism 45 Arberry rejects it. The latter provides evidence to prove that Sind was a lage in Khurasan and not the province of Sind in modern Pakistan. The controversy is insignificant because ancient Indian thought and ideas on mysticism had continually aroused interest in the Khurasanian region and these naturally fused with Bayazid’s expression of his own mystical experiences.! Other parts of Iran ‘There were other areas of Iran which, like Khurasan and Transoxiana, were also famous for their sufis. We have already mentioned some derv- ishes from Rayy, who settled in Nishapur. Amongst the Rayy sufis was Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf ibn al-Husain who obtained an education in Arabia and Egypt but returned to preach in his home town where he remained until he died in 304/916-17. It seems apparent that the people of Rayy had little interest in esoteric doctrines and Yusuf's lectures generally failed to attract an audience? Kirman, in the Fars region, came to be distinguished in the history of sufism because of Abu'l Fawaris Shah ibn Shuja’, said to have been a scion of a princely family. He was the author of several books on sufism, none of which have survived. Hujwiri records an interesting sentence Abu'l Fawaris is reported to have expressed, and makes the following comment: ‘The eminent have eminence until they see it, and the saints have saintship until they see it,” that is, whoever regards his eminence loses its reality, and whoever regards his saintship loses its reality." ‘At Shiraz, also in Iran, Abu ‘Abdu'llah Muhammad ibn Khafif ibn Isfakshad was born in 270/882. Like Abu'l Fawaris he was of royal blood, but for him the prayer carpet was infinitely preferable to the coronet. Not only was he well connected, but ‘Abdu'llah’s fame as a mystic made him exceedingly eligible as a marriage prospect to the daughters of kings and nobles, Marriage to him was considered a great prize because of the blessing accruing from it. ‘Abdu'llah did not choose one wife but many, and is said to have contracted four hundred marriages. These were not consummatedand were generally laterannulled. Twoor three of hiswives, however, would rotate in performing service for their husband, but only one, a vizier’s daughter, is recorded as having endeared herself to 'ALSahlaji, Kitab al-Nur edited by A. Badawi, Cairo, 1949; Sulami, pp. 60-64; Abu Nea ai tte: Nicolson,p, 16-08, 184-88; Masignon pp. 243- ‘56: Arberry, pp. 100-23; R.C, Zachner, Hindu and Muslim mysticism, London. 1960, pp. 93— 134, 198-218; AJ. Arberry. Revelation and reason in Islam, London, 1957, pp. 90-103. 2Sulami, pp. 175-82, Abu Nu'aim, X, pp: 238-42; al-Khatib, XIV, pp. 314-19; Qushaiti, P24; Nicholson, p. 136; Arberry, pp. 185-91. SNicholson, p.138, For his biography see Sulami, pp. 192-94; Arberry, pp. 183-91,46 A History of Sufism in India “Abdu’llah. She described her relations with the Shaikh as follows ““When the Shaikh wedded me and I was informed that he would visit me that night, I prepared a fine repast and adorned myself assiduously. As soon as he came and the food was brought in, he called me to him and looked for a while first at me and then at the food. Then he took my hand and drew it into his sleeve. From his breast to his navel there were fifteen knots (‘agd) growing out of his belly. He said, “Ask me what these are,” so I asked him and he replied, “They are knots made by the tribulation and anguish of my abstinence in renouncing a face like this and viands like these. He said no more, but departed; and that is all my intimacy with him.""1 ‘Abdu'llah made pilgrimages to Mecca at least six times, and visited Egypt and Asia Minor, finally dying at Shiraz in 371/982. He was the author of many books in which he constantly discussed the two doctrines of ghaybar (absence) and huzur (presence). “Presence” is “presence of the heart,” as a proof of intuitive faith (vagin), so that what is hidden from it has the same force as what is visible to it. “Absence” is “absence of the heart from all things except God” to such an extent that it becomes absent from itself and absent even from its absence, so that it no longer regards itself; and the sign of this state is withdrawal from all formal authority (hukm-i rusum), as when a prophet is divinely preserved from what is unlawful. Accordingly, absence from one’s self is presence with God, and vice versa.”? From Tustar, or Ahwaz, in Khuzistan rose the celebrated sufi, Abu ‘Abdu'llah Muhammad Sahl ibn ‘Abdu'llah al-Tustari. He was born in ¢. 200/815 and studied first with Sufyan al-Sawri and later with Zu’n-Nun Misti. Although a withdrawn ascetic, persecution by the orthodox forced Sahl to take refuge in Basra. It was in Basra that Sahl formulated his ideas on the course of one Concerned with the mystic path. Unlike other sufis who believed that Mortification was needed to redress the vices of the lower soul, Sahl saw self-punishment in the positive terms of leading directly to union with God. Orthodox divines accused him of combining the Law (Shari‘a) and Truth (Hagiga) but to Sahl they were never divided. In this passage from the Kashfu al-Mahjub he says !Nicholson, pp. 248-49, ibid, p.248; A.M. Schimmel Tari 1bn al-Khaff, Ankara, 1955; Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp, 385- 87; Qushairi, p. 31; Nicholson, pp. 158, 247-51; Arberry, pp. 257-63,Early Sufism a7 “Inasmuch as God has joined the Law to the Truth, it is impossible that His saints should separate them. If they be separated, one must, inevitably be rejected and the other accepted. Rejection of the Law is heresy, and rejection of the Truth is infidelity and polytheism. Any (proper) separation between them is made, not to estal a difference of meaning, but to affirm the Truth, as when it is said: “The words, there is no God save Allah, are Truth, and the words, Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, are Law.” No one can separate the one from the other without impairing his faith, and it is vain to wish to do so. In short, the Law is a branch of the Truth: know- ledge of God is Truth, and obedience to His command is Law.”! Like Rabita, Sahl had a special affinity with animals, According to tradition, wild beasts and lions would come from the forests to his house where he would feed them. Sahl died in Basra in 282/896. Egypt and Syria The prominence which Egyptian sufism obtained was due mainly to the contribution of Abu'l-Faiz Sauban ibn Ibrahim al-Misri, or Zu’n- Nun. A native of Ikhmim in Upper Egypt, he was born about 180/796. He made a study of medicine and alchemy and may have been influenced by Hellenistic ideas. Zu'n-Nun travelled extensively in Arabia and Syria. In 214/829 he was accused of heresy, arrested and sent to Baghdad. After examination the Caliph had him released and permitted him to return to Egypt. He died at Jiza in 246/860-61 The controversy around Zu'n-Nun stemmed from his conception of the mystic states (alnwal) and the stations (magamat) of the mystic way: he was the first to attempt a detailed explanation of these two ideas. Considering self to be the chief obstacle to all spiritual progress, Zu'n- Nun advocated sincerity in the search for righteousness, and that solitude alone led to success in this quest. He was the first to teach the real nature of gnosis (na 'rifa) and described it as: of the Unity, and this belongs to the he Face of God within their hearts, fem in a way in which He is not jostics are not them- - knowledge of the attributes saints, those who contemplate t so that God reveals Himself to t revealed to any others in the world. “The gn are selves, but in so far as they exist at all they exist in God Zu’n-Nun’s explanation of gnosis has been interpreted in the following way: Nicholson, pp. 139-40, 2Sulami, pp. 199-205; Abu Nu‘aim, pp. 189-212: 195-210; L. Massignon, pp. 264-70; Arberry, pp. 153-60. ; Qushair, p. 15; Nicholson, pp. 139-40,48 A History of Sufism in India “The gnostic needs no state, he needs only his Lord in all states. Gnosis he associates with ecstasy (wajd), the bewilderment of dis- covery. (Zu’n-Nun) used the word hubb for love to God, which ‘means, he says, to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. But the love of God must not exclude love to man, for love to man- kind is the foundation of righteousness. He is one of the first to use the imagery of the wine of love and the cup poured out for the lover to drink." The description of the saints which Zu’n-Nun imparted to the “Abbasid, Caliph Mutawakkil (847-61), is preserved by his admirer al-Muhasibi in the following words: .they are those whom God invested with the radiance of His love and adorned with the fair mantle of His grace, upon whose heads He set the crown of His joy, and He put love towards them into the hearts of His creatures. Then He brought them forth, having en- trusted to their hearts the treasures of the Invisible, which depend upon union with the Beloved...He gave them knowledge of the places where the means of healing is to be found. . .and to them He Bave assurance of an answer to their prayers, and He said: “Oh My saints, if there come to you one sick through separation from Me, heal him, or a fugitive from Me, seek out...or afraid of Me, then reassure him. . .O My saints, I have reasoned with you, and to you I have addressed Myself, towards you has been My desire and from you have I sought the fulfilment (of my Will), for upon you has My choice been laid, and you have I predestined for My work. . .to be Mine elect. Not those who are proud do I seck to be My servants, nor do I desire the service of the covetous. To you have I given the most precious of rewards, the fairest of gifts, the greatest of graces. I am the Searcher of hearts, He Who knows the mysteries of the In- visible. . am the Goal of your desire, I Who read the secrets of the heart. Let not the voice of any that is mighty, save Myself, make you fear, nor any sovereign by Myself. .. He who has shown you enmity is My enemy, and to him who was friendly towards you have I shewn friendship. Ye are My saints and ye are My beloved. Ye are Mine and I am yours.’2 Syria was notable not only for its prophets but also for its saints. Abu Sulaiman ‘Abdu’r-Rahman bin Atiyya al-Darani, a sufi who remained for some time in Basra, later retired to Daraya, near Damascus, where he Eneyclopaedia of Islam (new edition), 11, p. 242. 24m early mystic of Baghdad, pp. 81-2; For notes on his biography, see Sulami, pp. 23-32; ‘l-Khatib, VII, pp. 393-97; Qushairi, p. 9; Ibn Asakar, Tarikh Demashg, Damascus, 1329. 32/1911-13. Nicholson, pp. 100-03; Massignon, pp. 184-91 ; Arberty, pp. 87-99,Early Sufism 5 died in 215/830. To him, both hope and fear were indispensable to one who sought God. Nothing, either in this world aor the next, was of sufficient importance to keep man from his God. Abu Sulaiman ‘Abdu’r- Rahman believed: ‘When hope predominates over fear, one’s “time” is spoilt, because “time” is the preservation of one’s state (hal), which is preserved only so long as one is possessed by fear. If, on the other hand, fear predominates over hope, belief in Unity (Tawhid) is lost, inasmuch as excessive fear springs from despair, and despair of God is poly- theism (shirk). Accordingly, the maintenance of belief in Unity consists in right hope, and the maintenance of “time” in right fear, and both are maintained when hope and fear areequal. Maintenance of belief in Unity makes one a believer (mu’min), while maintenance of “time” makes one pious (muti’). Hope is connected entirely with contemplation (mushahadat), in which is involved a firm conviction (‘tigad); and fear is connected entirely with purgation (mujahadat), in which is involved an anxious uncertainty (iztirab)."! Baghdad Baghdad, the ‘Abbasid capital in Iraq, d was a junction of caravan routes. There foundations of sufism were laid amidst hectic orthodox, intellectual and sectarian developments. From the ninth century onwards translations of Greek, old Persian and Sanskrit literature were accompanied by those of Syriac (ancient Syrian or Western Aramaic) works by Christian mystics into Arabic. Of these the most notable was the translation of Mystic Treatises written by Isaac of Nineveh in the seventh century. Syriac works by mystics such as Aphraates, the monk, who lived in Iran during the fourth century, Ephraim, the Syrian, also of the fourth century, Simon of Taibutheh, an East Syrian who died in 680, and Abraham bar Dashandad, an East Syrian, who lived sometime around 720 and 730, were also known to sufis in Baghdad. Tt was an Irani, however, who founded the Baghdad school of Islamic mystics, He was Abu Mahfuz Ma‘ruf ibn Firuz al-Karkhi. Although Ma‘ruf was born of Christian parents, he reportedly embraced Islam through the influence of the eighth Shi'i Imam ‘Ali al-Riza. This story must be apocryphal for ‘Ali al-Riza, who was born in Medina in 148/765, was summoned to Marw by Caliph al-Ma’mun (813-33) in 201/816 and Was killed at Tus, two years later in 818. Long before the arrival of “Ali al-Riza in Iran, Ma‘ruf had settled in Baghdad, where he died in 200/815— 16. It is unlikely that the latter would have gone to Medina in order to situated on the Khurasan road, 'Nicholson, pp. 112-13; For biographical notes on Abu Sulaiman see Sulami, pp. 68-79; Quai p1650 A History of Sufism in India embrace Islam. According to one source, Ma‘ruf completed his educa- tion in mystic and ascetic discipline under Abu Sulaiman Dawud ibn Nusair al-Ta’i of Kufa who died between 160/777 and 165/782. During Harun al-Rashid’s reign, Ma‘ruf lived in the Karkh quarters of Baghdad, hence he was subsequently called Karkhi. The two elements of Hagg (Truth) and Sidg (Truthfulness) predomi- nate in Ma'ruf’s teaching. When asked for his last testament, Ma‘ruf said that his shirt might be taken from his back and given in alms so t he could leave the world naked as he had emerged from his mother's womb. After his death, Jews, Christians and Muslims all claimed Ma‘ruf as their own, but only Muslims were able to lift his bier from the ground before his burial, The following anecdote also confirms Ma‘ruf’s reli- gious tolerance: ‘It was reported that whenever food was presented to Ma‘ruf as a gift he always accepted and ate it. Someone said to him: “Your brother Bishr bin al-Haris always refused such food,” and Ma‘ruf replied: “‘Abstaining causes my brother's hands to be tied, whilst Gnosis causes my hands to be stretched forth. Tam only a guest in the house of my Lord. . .when He feeds me, I eat; when he does not, Thave to be patient. I have neither objection nor choice."*"! Ma‘ruf’s pupil, Abu’l-Hasan Sari ibn al-Mughallis al-Saqti, rose to be most prominent Baghdadi sufi. Among his main opponents was the celebrated jurist, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780-855), the founder of the puritanically orthodox Sunni school of jurisprudence, called Hanbali. Originally Sari had been a merchant of spices and seasonings. During his lifetime he witnessed the reigns of several Caliphs and the rise and fall of several significant intellectual and sectarian movements, In 253/867— 68 he died at the ripe old age of ninety-eight. According to the Tabagat al-Sufiyya, Sari was the “first in Baghdad to teach unification (Tawhid) through the path of mysticism, the first to teach the knowledge of Reality, and he was also the leader of the Bagh- dadis in the use of symbolic utterances (isharat).’ A great teacher, he chose the Socratic method of instruction through the posing of thought- Provoking questions. Sari’s influence converted the Baghdad school of Sufism into a group known as the Masters of Unification (Arbab al- Tawhid). Their theories were based on academic knowledge and their approach to mysticism was intellectual Sufism, Sari said, meant to a sufi the following three things: *...that the light of his gnosis did not extinguish the light of hit Qu ai-Qulub, 1V, p.61: quoted by A.H. Abdel-Kadar, The life, personality and writings of Al-Junayd, London, 1962, p15; for biographical details about Ma‘ruf see Sulami, pp. 74-9: ‘Abu Nu'aim, VII, pp. 360-68; Qushairi, p. 10; Nicholson, pp. 113-15: Arberry, pp. 161-65:Early Sufism st abstinence (wara’, that his inward speculations did not make him opposed to the outward conduct taught by the Qur’an and the Sunna, and that the favours of God bestowed on him did not lead him to tear aside the veil from what God had made unlawful to him.”! Sari also reminded his fellow sufis that the very start of gnosis depended on the withdrawal of the soul that it might be alone with God. Junaid describes one of Sari’s dreams in which he saw God speaking to him in these words O Sari, I created mankind, and all of them claimed to love Me. Then I created the world, and nine-tenths of them deserted Me, and there remained one-tenth. Then I created Paradise, and nine-tenths again deserted Me, and one-tenth of the tenth remained with Me. ‘And I imposed upon them one particle of affliction, and nine-tenths of those who were left deserted Me, and I said to those who re- mained, “Ye did not desire the world, nor seek after Paradise, nor fice from misfortune; what then do ye desire and what is it that ye seek?” They replied, “It is Thou Thyself that we desire, and if Thou dost afflict us, yet will we not abandon our love and devotion to Thee.” And I said to them, “I am He who imposes upon you affliction and terrors which even the mountains cannot abide. Will ye have patience for such affliction?” They said, “Yea, verily, if Thou art the One Who afflicts; do what Thou wilt with us.” These are indeed My servants and My true lovers.”? Among the associates of Sari and Zu’n-Nun, probably the most talented was Abu Sa‘id Ahmad ibn “Isa al-Kharraz of Baghdad. Kharraz was a cobbler by trade. He acquired great fame because of his books, some of which have survived. In his writings he gave a clear and convincing definition of fana’ (annihilation or the passing away of human attributes) and baga’ (subsistence or existence in God). Bayazid’s statements regard- ing fana’ emanated from a state of mystic intoxication but Kharraz's arguments were made in the most temperate language. é To mystics and spiritualists, fana’ meant different things. One view was that of the Nestorians who held that Mary, through self-mortifica- tion, annihilated all human qualities. Divine subsistence then became attached to her, so that she existed in God’s life, and Jesus was the result of this union. Originally human elements were not attached to Jesus because his existence arose from an understanding of the subsistence of God. Consequently, Jesus, His mother and God exist through one subsistence, which is both eternal and one of God's attributes. Kharraz, ‘Qushait,p. 10; extract translated in An early mystic of Baghdad, p28. 2n early mystic of Baghdad, p. 40; For biographical details see Sulami, pp. 41-8; Abu NNu‘aim, X, pp. 116-26; Qushaisi, pp. 10-11; Nicholson, pp. 110-11; Arberry, pp. 166-72.2 A History of Sufism in India however, held that fana’ is annihilation of the consciousness of manhood Cubudiyya), and baga’ (subsistence) is subsistence in the contemplation of God (Ilahiyya). Hujwiri comments: “In annihilation there is no love or hate, and in subsistence there is no consciousness of union or separation. Some wrongly imagine that annihilation signifies loss of essence and destruction of personality, and that subsistence indicates the subsistence of God in Man; both these notions are absurd."! Kharraz’s book, the Kitab al-Sidg (Book of Truthfulness) has been published with an English translation by A.J. Arberry. Starting with the idea of Sidg or Truthfulness, Kharraz continues by describing the ‘stations,’ or stages in the sufi path : fear, hope, trust, love, shame, longing, intimacy, all which lead to the goal of unity with God. He concludes: “Know, then, that those who have attained unto God, and are ni to Him, who have in truth tasted the love of God, and obtained their portion from their King, their qualities are: godliness, abstinence, patience, sincerity, truthfulness, trust, confidence, love, yearning, intimacy, all fine characteristics, all the characteristics of theirs which cannot be described, together with that piety and generosity which they have made their abode. Alll this is with them, dwelling in their natures, hidden in their souls: nothing else find they good, for this is their food and their habitude. The date of Kharraz’s death is uncertain, but it appears to have been sometime between 279/892 and 286/899.5 ‘Amongst Sari’s friends and visitors, another prominent personality was Abu ‘Abdu'llah al-Haris ibn Asad al-Muhasibi. Born at Basra in 165/781-82, Muhasibi migrated to Baghdad early in his life. There he managed to acquire a perfect understanding of Hadis and of other theological subjects; he also obtained a good grounding in scholasticism (Kalam) and used the dialectic methods and terminology of the Mu‘tazil to refute Mu'tazili doctrines and Shi‘i beliefs. His involvement in cussions on matters which were taboo to the orthodox branded him a renegade in their eyes and he became a target of persecution to Ibn Hanbal and his followers. Muhasibi’s life became so endangered that he fied to Baghdad. So secretly had his existence been kept that when he died in 243/857 only four people attended the funeral. Although the study of Muhasibi’s writings was banned, succeeding generations of Nicholson, p. 243. 2A.J. Arberry, The book of truthfulness, Oxford, 1937, pp. 61-2. 3For biographical details see Sulami, pp. 223-28; Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp. 246-49; Qusha 1.28; Massignon, pp. 270-73; Nicholson, pp. 143, 241-46; Arberry, pp. 218-20.Early Sufism a sufis recognized his deep contribution to their movement, and continued to study his works, most of which have survived. Ghazali was a firm admirer of the ideas of Muhasibi and considered him outstanding for his contribution to the study of human behaviour, in his recognition of both the inherent weakness of the soul and the evil of human action. ‘As a sufi Muhasibi was given the title al-Muhasibi, because of his practice of frequent self-examination while involved in the recollection of God. According to him strict abstinence (wara’) leading to godliness (1aqwa’) was possible only through self examination. Contentment and patience were the significant marks of fine character. Margaret Smith writes: “By relentless and unceasing self-examination he (Muhasibi) had come to know his own soul and its besetting sins; by self-discipline he had learnt to be master of his soul, to cope with its temptations ‘and to get the better of its tendency to sin, and so, by his own un- ceasing striving, aided by the grace of God, without which his own efforts would have been in vain, to attain to self-purification and a state in which he had ceased to depend upon himself or the creatures, and had given himself entirely into the hands of God, merging his ‘own personal will in the divine will, becoming empty of self in order .e revelation and indwelling of God. that his soul might be open to th n Through the way of Purgation he had attained to Ilumination and thence to the Unitive life, lived with and in God.” ‘ Muhasibi advised sufis to approach God in a spirit of shame for their lack of gratitude, concern for their shortcomings, real hope in Flis mercy and joy at the thought of Him. Everything which was good, either relat- ing to thought or action, emanated from divine grace. Repeatedly he reminded sufis that the heart was the essence of the self, which, like a mirror, served its purpose only when brightly polished. Divine grace was a supernatural light illuminating the heart in the awakened state of the devotee, which was destroyed by neglect. A true ascetic should consider himself a stranger in this world and fight against temptations, avarice, envy, jealousy and backbiting to display religiosity and spiritual superio- rity. He quoted a phrase attributed to Christ: ‘If one of you fasts, let him anoint his head and comb his hair and put collyrium on his eyes.” Repentance was the first step, believed Muhasibi, towards spiritual Progress. This should be accompanied by the seeking of forgiveness for sins and by the atonement of injuries inflicted to others. Personal prayer or mumajat, according to Muhasibi, was the finest means to get near to God. He believed: An early mystic of Baghdad, p. 26 ibid, p. 135.4 A History of Sufism in India -approach God with obedient hearts, wherein is knowledge of the greatness of God Most High. ..feeling same before Him, and let that which is His due be given unto Him. ..and come near to Him with intense love towards Him, loving what He loves and abhorring what He abhors, and come unto Him with a realisation of His good gifts and His grace... Therefore approach God with fear lest His favours towards you should cease, and with keen shame lest you fall short in gratitude to Him, And draw near to God Most High with deep fear of Him and real hope in Him, and joy in the recollection of Him. ..And approach him with assured faith and dependence upon Him, and confidence in Him...with gravity of mien, with downcast eyes and humility...and approach God with the desire to amend your life...Draw near unto Him, choosing humility rather than exaltation, and preferring hardship for the sake of God rather than an easy life, and poverty to wealth and its acquirement And approach Him with the continuous remembrance of death and the resurrection and the bridge of Sirat,! which must be crossed. All these things are to be earnestly desired by all who came before God to make entreaty of Him.”2 The most brilliant disciple and a close friend of Haris Muhasibi was Sari's nephew, Abu'l-Qasim al Junaid bn Muhammad al-Khazzaz.al- Nihawandi. Some of Muhasibi's treatises contain detailed answers to questions Junaid put to his master. Junaid’s father was a glass merchant. His son acquired a thorough knowledge of Figh and Hadis. (Junaid) refers of himself that when he left his uncle, Sari asked him to whose assembly he would go, and he replied: “To Haris al-Muhasibi.” Sari then said: “Yes, go and acquire his doctrine (‘fm) and his method of self-training (adab), but leave his splitting of words in speculation (tashgiq {i'-kalam) and his refutation of the Mu'tazilites alone.” “And when I had turned my back,” adds Junaid, “I heard Sari say, May God make you a traditionist who is a sufi and not a sufi who is a traditionist” —that is, that knowledge of the traditions and the Suna should come first, and then by practising asceticism and devotion he might advance in knowledge of sufism and become a sufi gnostic, but that the reverse process of trying to attain to the higher degrees of sufism without being well grounded in orthodox theology was dangerous.” Junaid died in Baghdad in 298/910. Of Junaid’s works only his treatises, his Rasa’il (Epistles) and a series "The bridge across hell, according to the Hadis, is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword’s edge. . 2An early mystie of Baghdad, pp. 205-06; from Wasaya by Muhasibi. For biographical details see Sulami, pp. 49-53; Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp. 73-109; al-Khatib, VIM, pp. 211-16: Qushairi, pp. 12-13; Nicholson, pp. 108-09, 176-83; Massignon, pp. 210-25; Arberry, pp. 143-45, An early mystic of Baghdad, p. 27, quoted from Al-Makki’s Qu al-Qulub, I, p. 158.Early Sufism 5s of letters have survived. Together with Muhasibi, Junaid was the founder of the sober (safw) school of sufism and posterity gave to him such titles of praise as Saiyid al-Ta’ifa (Lord of the Sect), Ta’us al-Fugara’ (Peacock of the Dervishes) and Shaikh al-Masha’ikh (Director of the Directors). Junaid’s own mystical awareness and self-concentration enabled him to draw the attention of his fellow sufis to the doctrine of Tawhid or Divine Unification in a most cautious manner. Although he considered Tawhid as utterly inexpressible and indefinable, he explained it by using misag and fana’ as examples. Misag refers to the following verse in the Qur'an: ‘And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselyes, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware."! Junaid interpreted this verse in the light of the Neo-Platonic doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul. Abdel-Kader (‘Abdu’l Qadir) says: “If we try to sum up this theory and to describe this (the) highest state of Unification which the worshipper can attain, we find that the worshipper returns to his primordial state where he has been before he was created. That is, he departs from his worldly existence, his normal human existence does not continue and hence he exists in God and is completely absorbed in Him. Itis thus that the muwahhid can attain the real Tawhid. As long as he preserves his individuality he cannot attain this full state of Tawhid, as the continued persistence of his individuality means that something other than God is still present”? So when God creates a human being, His intention is to make him again fully One with Himself. This state explains Junaid’s definition of sufism which draws attention to the fact that: ‘Tasawwuf is that God should make you die from yourself and should make you live in Him’? The successive steps which lead to Unification involve fana’ in the follow ing manner: 1, The obliteration of attributes, characteristics and natural qualities in your motives when you carry out your religious duties, making great efforts and doing the opposite of what you may desire, and compelling yourself to do the things which you do not wish to do. 2. The obliteration of your pursuit after pleasures and even the sensa- 'Qur‘an, VII, 172. 2Personality and writings of al-Junayd, p. 79.{A History of Sufism in India tion of pleasure in obedience to God's behests—so that you are exclusively His, without any intermediary means of contact 3. The obliteration of the consciousness of having attained the vision of God at the final stage of ecstasy when God’s victory over you is complete. At this stage you are obliterated and have eternal life with God, and you exist only in the existence of God because you have been obliterated. Your physical being continues but your individuality has departed.” Baga’, abiding or continuing in God, is the same state as fana’ and the Words are interchangeable. There is no implication that the worshipper in this state can become identical with God (ittihad); nor does it imply that by abandoning his own qualities, a soul can become part of God’s attributes. Unification means ‘the passing away of man’s will in God’s Will’ or in other words the loss of human will, which ‘characterizes the Worldly individuality, being possessed by God and returning into the life of his eternal self in God.” Junaid continues by saying: “The soul accepts the spiritual burden with its implication of suffer- ing, seeks for its cure, and is preoccupied with that divine revelation vouchsafed to it. Consequently, it is able to look on the remote with the eye of propinquity, to be closer to God because a veil has been removed and it is no longer completely concealed.’ ‘Though the soul has Bala’ (suffering), it is not rejected. How can it be hidden from God by a veil when it is, as it were, a captive bound before Him? God has allowed the suppression of the individuality when man has Bala’. The soul no longer arrogates a degree of importance to its individuality but is amply satisfied with God's love and nearness. “Such, then, is the infinite duration of this newly found spiritual life and the intensity of the stage of Bala’ that the suppression of the individuality is completely submerged by the lightning flash of God's regard. As a result, the soul derives spiritual pleasures from Bala’ and is delighted with its Bala’ with God, because it can enjoy pro- Pinquity with God and the wound of Bala’ is soothed. The soul is not bent down under the burden of Bala’ nor does it chafe at its spiritual load. Their experience makes heroes of them—because of the secrets revealed to them they stay conquered by God, awaiting His commands that Allah may designate what shall be done.”””? To Junaid, Unification was the highest state of enlightenment; it was a fresh kind of knowledge he called ma‘rifa. It was revealed to devotees who had reached the state of Tawhid and were termed ‘arifs. According to Junaid the ‘arif was not the seeker but the muwahhid (one endowed 'Personality and writings of al-Junayd, p. 81; quoted from Qushaiti. ibid, pp. 85-6.Early Sufism 37 with the knowledge of Unification) to whom God in His grace had revealed Himself. However, an ‘arif was not some supernatural being. Junaid said: “The ‘arif could not be an ‘arif until he is like earth upon which the pious and impious walk; and like the clouds that are spread over everything; and like the rains that descend upon all places quite without any likes and dislikes." What Junaid had expressed cautiously and soberly was now to be phrased in ecstatic, radical terms by his younger contemporary, Abu’l- Maghis al-Husain bin Mansur al-Hallaj, the tragic, ill-fated figure who was to become the great martyr of medieval sufism. Hallaj was born about 244/857-S8 at Tur, in Fars, to the north-west of al-Bayza. His father was a wool carder, who later settled in the textile centre of Wasit.2 Hallaj was educated at Wasit and Basra. He came into contact with Junaid at Baghdad and then made a hajjto Mecca. After his return Hallaj wandered preaching through Khurasan dressed in a soldier's uniform, instead of the traditional woollen cloak of a sufi. By this time Hallaj had gathered about four hundred disciples who accompanied him on his travels. After a second pilgrimage, he wandered through India and .Turkistan, where he acquainted himself with Buddhism and Manichaeism, About 290/ 903 he again went to Mecca, this time wearing only an Indian loin-cloth round his waist and a piece of patched and motley cloth thrown around his shoulders. After this, his final pilgrimage, Hallaj remained in Baghdad. There he uttered his famous theopathic cry: Ana'l-Haqq (I am [God] the Truth). Orthodox opinion was sharply divided as to what discipline should be meted out to one who uttered such alleged profanities, however, they were forced to tread warily—the number of Hallaj’s supporters at the Caliph’s court was by no means meagre. His enemies denounced him for claiming mystical union with God and for causing moral instability among the people. Hallaj’s disciples and friends explained that mystic inspiration was beyond the jurisdiction of an earthly court. However, the scramble for power between viziers of opposing sects finally led to Hallaj’s im- prisonment in 301/913. Current upheavals in polities postponed retribu- tion being exacted for some years. While in prison, Hallaj wrote his famous work, Ta Sin al-Azal, a medita- tion on the case of Iblis (the Devil) whose monotheism, Hallaj believed, ‘Personality and writings of al-Junayd, p. 102. For biographical details see Sulami, pp. 141-150; Abu Nu‘aim, X, pp. 255-87; Qushairi, pp. 20-1; al-Yafe', I, pp. 231-366 ee Subki', I], pp. 80-3; Nicholson, pp. 128-30, 185-89; L, Massignon, pp. 273-78; RC Zacher, Hindu and Muslim mysticism, pp. 135-53, 218-34; Arbetry, pp. 199-213. 2Before the oundation of Baghdad, it wasanimportaat city in Iraq and originally occupied ‘both banks of the Tigris. It lay equidistant from Kufa, Basra and Ahwaz,38 A History of Sufism in India prevented him from prostrating before Adam. He also wrote a book on the ascension (mi'raj) of Muhammad. Imprisoned for nine years, the accusations against Hallaj assumed various forms. A statement of his reminding Muslims to, ‘...proceed seven times around the Ka‘ba of one’s heart,’ was interpreted as meaning that he was a Qaramati Ismaili attempting to destroy the Ka'ba in Mecca. The basis of the case against Hallaj which finally secured his condemnation was that he rejected the transcendence of God and preached infusion theories or incarnation (tulu!). Ultimately on 29 Zu'l-Qa’da 309/1 April 922 Hallaj was hung ona gibbet after various revolting and merciless tortures had been inflicted. Modernscholarshave had access to Hallaj’s works. Among those books which have been published about him are the Akbar al-Hallaj translated into French by Louis Massignon and entitled The Passion d'al-Halla)), the Kitab al-Tawasin, a collection of eleven short treatises including the Ta Sin al-Azal and Hallaj’s Arabic Diwan or collected poems. Hallaj’s concept of Ana'l-Hagq does not imply that human nature (nasut) is identical or interchangeable with the Divine (Lahui); to take a less elaborate simile—water does not become wine, when they are mixed. The following lines by Hallaj are most expressive ‘Lam He whom I love, and He whom I love is 1 We are two spirits dwelling in one body, If thou seest me, thou seest Him; And if thou seest Him, thou seest us both.” Elsewhere Hallaj writes: ‘We are two spirits fused together (halalna) in a single body.’ This, however, also does not prove his belief in /nultl. Hallaj's concept is identical with that of the leading Christian mystic, St. John of the Cross: “Two natures (God and man) in a single spirit and love of God!’—Actually Hallaj meant that his ‘I’ was ‘acted upon’ by divine grace. Nicholson explains it this way: “According to Hallaj, the essence of God's essence is Love. Before the creation God loved Himself in absolute unity and through love revealed Himself to Himself alone. Then, desiring to behold that love-in-aloneness, that love without otherness and duality, as an external object, He brought forth from non-existence an image of Himself, endowed with all His attributes and names. This divine image is Adam, in and by whom God is manifest—divinity objectified in humanity.) !R.A, Nicholson, Studies in Islamic mysticism, Cambridge, 1967, p. 80; For biographical Getails see Sulami, pp. 308-13; al-Khatib, VIII, pp. 112-41, Ibn Khallikan, I, no. 181; al-Yafe'i, I, pp. 253-61; Nicholson, pp. 150-52; Arberry, pp. 264-71; R.A. Nicholson, The idea of personality in Sufism, Cambridge, 1923, pp. 25-37,Early Sufism 9 Hallaj’s views were repudiated by Junaid but the latter did not dissociate himself from either Abu Yazid or Shibli who expressed their mystical experiences in a similar way. Abu Bakr Dulaf bin Jahdar al-Shibli was of Khurasanian origin but had been born in Baghdad or Samarra. The son of a high-ranking court official, he had served as governor of Damawand, about fifty miles north-east of Tehran. Having had various intense spiritual experiences, Shibli resigned his position and became one of Junaid’s disciples, immediately embarking on an intense course of self-mortification. This included begging in the streets of Baghdad. Later Shibli returned to Damawand where he went from house to house attempting to make amends to those he may have dissatisfied while gover- nor. Returning to Baghdad, Junaid again urged Shibli to beg and also to perform menial services for his master’s companions. All this was done so that not a vestige of the former governor’s pomp and pride remained. ‘Of Shibli’s own pronouncements, we know, he insisted people should pronounce God’s name only with a background of true experience and understanding. Overpowered by mystic ecstasy, Shibli would cry out publicly: ‘God.’ Junaid reproached him saying: “We utter these words in grottos. ..now you have come and declare them in the market-place.” “I am speaking and I am listening,” Shibli replied. “In both worlds who is there but I? Nay rather, these are words proceeding from God to God, and Shibli is not there at all.”” “If that is the case, you have dispensation,” Junaid said.” According to Shibli, only when God uprooted all the lust from a man’s heart, was the bodily eye safe from its own hidden dangers. God must replace lust with a desire for Himself; until then the spiritual eye might be hindered from other than Him alone. For some time Shibli was committed to a mental asylum because of his ideas, however, no stronger action was taken against him. He died in 334/946 at the age of eighty seven.! The following references to Shibli, during the period of his confinement, which were related by ‘Attar, give some insight into Shibii’s own rationalization of his behaviour, which others interpreted as madness: “When Shibli was confined in chains a group of his companions one day went to visit him. “Who are you?,” he cried. “Your friends,” they told him. He at once began to throw stones at them, and they all fled. “Liars!” he shouted. “Do friends run away from their friend because of a few stones? This proves that you are friends of yourselves, not of me!”” Once Shibli was observed running with a burning coal in his hand. “Where are you going?” they asked. “I 'Arberry, p. 282.Cy A History of Sufism in India am running to set fire to the Ka‘ba,” he answered, “so that men may hhenceforward care only for the Lord of the Ka‘ba.” On another ‘occasion he was holding in his hand a piece of wood alight at both ends. “What are you going to do?” he was asked. “I am going to set Hell on fire with one end and Paradise with the other,” he replied, “so that men may concern themselves only with God.’ By the time Shibli died, sufism had completed its formative stage. The goal of the sufi path was God alone, and anything that hindered one from the object of this quest was rejected. Sufis applied an esoteric meaning to verses in the Qur'an which related to repentance, abstinence, renuncia- tion, poverty, patience, trust in God, satisfaction, fear, hope etc. The main aim of their lives was to rid themselves of hypocrisy and lust—to them, latent forms of polytheism. Thus a division grew up between the “ulama,’ who administered the Shari'a, and the mystics, who they de- nounced as ignorant of the law. In turn, sufis criticized the ‘ulama’ as externalists and formalists who were unaware of the real spirit of the Shari'a. To the sufis, the study of the esoteric was: ‘the science of the actions of the interior which depended on an interior organ namely, the heart (al-galb).’ To externalists, the galb was only a physical organ of flesh and blood, but to the sufis it was a spiritual organ. An illuminated heart was a mirror in which every divine quality was reflected. Ma'rifa or the gnosis of Hellenistic theosophy was based on a light of divine grace that flashed into the heart. The wearing of woollen garments and patched frocks, a knowledge of the mystical allegories, anecdotes and technical expressions or hypocritical prayers, and fasting, did not lead to mystic illumination. Only when the individual self was lost, the doors to mystic illumination were opened and the Universal Self was found. All true sufis denounced antinomianism and libertinism. Nevertheless, thi language describing divine love unavoidably involved the use of erotic symbolism which was tinged with sensuality. Sufi ethics of love incul- cated in mystics and enraptured contemplation resulting in expressions known as shatahat (hybrid utterances). These expressions were not, however, a normal aspect of sufi life; they emanated from what was called sukr (a state of intoxication). In contrast to this was the controlled and disciplined side of sufi life, known as sahw (sobriety). Later the states of sukr and sahw were recognized as two different schools of sufism: the former represented by Bayazid and Hallaj and the latter by Muhasibi and Junaid. What sufis of both schools tended to believe was that, as a rain drop was not annihilated in the ocean, although it ceased to exist in- dividually, similarly the sufi soul in the unitive state was indistinguishable from the Universal Divine. ‘Arberry, p. 281; Biographical notes are to be found in Sulami, pp. 346-55; Suraj, Kitab «al-Luma’, London, 1963, pp. 395-406; Qushairi, p, 7; Iba Khallikan, Il, no. 215; Nicholson, Pp. 155-56; Arberry, pp. 277-86; Ibn al-'Imad, II, p. 338.Early Sufism a ‘The asceticism and renunciation of the mystics did not cut them off from Muslim society anywhere in the Islamic world. Their example radiated to all sections of the community. Theit humane treatment of animals and birds, especially to dogs, regarded as unclean by orthodox Muslims, was noteworthy and it tended to affect their attitude towards all human beings, including non-Muslims and members of the so-called heterodox sects. In general, sufis avoided the courts of their rulers and the company of the governing classes. However, they did not hesitate to remind the élite, whenever the opportunity arose, that the common Muslims had been divinely entrusted to their care. During the first two centuries of Islam, sufi discipleship had become better organized. Followers gathered around al-Hakim in Tirmiz, ‘Abu'l‘Abbas Sayyar in Marw, Qassar in Nishapur, Bayazid in Bastam, Khafif in Shiraz, Sahl in Tustar, and around Kharraz, Muhasibi, Junaid and Nuri in Baghdad.) This gave rise to the development of sufi sects. Each sect evolved its own framework of mystic practices under the guid- ance of its director (Shaikh, Pir or Murshid). Their forms of recollection (cikr) and meditation differed; their ideologies were often irreconcilable but there was no hostility among sufis who adhered to the basic framework of the Shari‘a. ‘A sect of sufis which was imbued with Hindu, Chinese and Tibetan beliefs of the eternity of the spirit shocked the majority of sufis who believed in the Islamic concept of the spirit? The former were known as Hululis, Discussing the theory of the eternity of the spirit, Hujwiri related that Sunnis also believed that the spirit was non-eternal (muhdas), that it existed prior to the formation of the body, but that it could not be transferred from one body to another. God was eternal but His creatures had a finite existence. Therefore it was impossible that the eternal should be mingled with its opposite and fused with it. Hujwiri reminds us that Hululis and other followers of metempsychosis who believed that, the spirit was an eternal characteristic of God, stressed that he could never become an attribute of His creatures, Hujwiri added: “The spirit is created and is under God’s command. Anyone who holds another belief is in flagrant error and cannot distinguish what is non-eternal from what is eternal. No saint, if his saintship be sound, can possibly be ignorant of the attributes of God.’3 According to Hujwiri the sufi sects named after the above Masters were approved ones. He gives a detailed description of each in the Kash al-Mahjub; Nicholson, pp. 176-260, 2When the Quraish idolaters, prompted by the Jews, asked the Prophet Muhammad to explain the nature and essence of the spirit, God in a revelation denied the eternity of the spirit saying. “The spirit belongs to that which (that is, the creation of which) my Lord command’ (Qur'an, XVII, 87). ‘The Muslims believe that the spirit is a substance, rather than an attribute. It isa subtle body, which comes and goes at God’s command. To Mus- Jims it is not eternal (qadim). Nicholson, pp. 261-63. SNicholson, pp. 263-64,2 A History of Sufism in India The orthodox sufis dissociated themselves from the doctrine of /ulul which was to become the most convenient and dangerous weapon in the ‘ulama’ armoury with which to denounce and suppress sufism. The move- ment’s esoteric and ascetic practices and its members’ indulgence in music and dancing also provided the theologians with opportunities to crush sufi activities. However, the transformation of sufism into an organised religious movement during the eleventh and twelfth centuri was coupled with the appearance of sufi texts in which the major ideas of mysticism were argued, codified and substantiated, This helped enormously to give the movement a firmer, more legitimate foundation on which to develop. Sufi Literature In previous pages we have referred to a number of sufi authors. Gene- rally their works were composed for specialists. From the middle of the tenth century onwards, many scholars of Figh and Hadis brought their academic training to bear on the study of sufism and wrote texts related to sufi theories and ideas in an attempt to clarify misunderstandings. They were essentially scholars who were also trained in sufism. One of the earliest of these authors was Abu Sa‘id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad ibn Bishr ibn al-Arabi. He had been born in Basra, but moved to Mecca, where he remained until his death in 341/ 952-53. Ibn al-‘Arabi was Junaid’s disciple and for about thirty years a Hadis teacher in Mecca. This scholastic training helped ibn al-*Arabi in his later work, the Tabagat al-Nussak. Although this text has not survived, extracts indicate that the author laid a firm foundation for the later sufi literary tradition. Abu Muhammad Ja‘far ibn Nusayr ibn al-Qasim al-Khawass a Baghdadi al-Khuldi, who died in 348/959-60, was also trained in Hadis. He wrote the Hikayat al-Awliya’ (Anecdotes of the Saints), a compendium of mystical subtleties. The work itself has not survived, but the Kitab al-Luma’ fi al-Tasawwuf by his pupil, Abu Nasr ‘Abdu'llah ibn Ali al- Sarraj al-Tusi (d. 378/988-89) still exists and has been critically edited. ‘Abu Sai‘d’s disciple, Abu Talib Muhammad ibn “Ali ‘Atiya al-Makk (d. 386/996-97) wrote the Kitab Qut al-Qulub fi Mu‘amalat al-Mahbub, an authoritative description of sufism. Al-Makki’s contemporary, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq al- Kalabazi had great literary gifts. His book, Kitab al-Ta'ruf li Mazhab al- Tasawwuf, is a lucid description of sufi discipline. The author was a native of Bukhara who wrote in Arabic. He died in 388/998-99. His major work, however, was immediately translated into Persian by another Bukhara scholar, Mustamli, who himself died in 434/1042-43. The earliest known source of biographical details is the Tabagat al- Sufiyya by ‘Abdu'r Rahman Muhammad al-Sulami of Nishapur. He died in 412/1021-22. Based on stories contained in this work, ‘AbdullahEarly Sufism ° al-Ansari al-Harawi; who will be discussed separately, delivered lectures on the life and teachings of earlier sufis and on the basis of Ansari’s lectures, a new work in Persian emerged, also entitled Tabagat al-Sufiyya. Sulami’s Tabagat laid the foundations of a genre of biographical literature which classified the sufis of one generation, or three or four decades, under separate chapters, calling them tabagat (classes). Sulami’s models were the biographical dictionaries of narrators or transmitters of the traditions of the Prophet, such as the Kitab al-Tabagat al-Kabir. Sulami’s Haq’iq ‘al-Tafsir gives an important insight into the sufi understanding of Qur’anic teaching. The Hilyat al-Awliya’ wa Tabagat al-Asfiya’, by Hafiz Abu Nu‘aim Ahmad ibn ‘Abdu'llah, who died in 430/1038-39, is a remarkable collection of sufi traditions and stories. 'A most authoritative study of sufism itself is, the Risala of Abu’l- *Abdu’l-Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushairi of Nishapur, who died in + to express the orthodox nature of sufism, 437 and 438/1045 and 1046. Qushairi’s sufi literature written in Arabic. Qasim 4465/1072. The work is an effor and was undertaken between Risala is an excellent summary of earlier s The significance of the work prompted Qushairi's disciple, Abu “Ali Hasan bin Ahmad ‘Usmani to translate it into Persian before Qushairi’s death in 465/1072. Qushairi wrote other treatises on different subjects of interest to sufis and a commentary on the Qur'an. | Extensive studies equipped Qushairi to define sufi terms authoritatively and at the same time to make them acceptable to a sizable section of later readers. Differentiating between Shari'a and Hagiga, he writes: ‘observance of the outward mani- “The Shari'a is concerned with the he out festations of religion [ie rites and acts of devotion (ibadat) and duties (mu‘amalat)]; whilst Hagiga (Reality) concerns inward vision of divine power (mushahadat ar-Rububiyya). Every rite not informed by the spirit of Reality is valueless, and every spirit of Reality not restrained by the Law is incomplete. The Law exists to regulate mankind, whilst the Reality makes us know the dispositions of God The Law exists for the service of God, whilst the Reality exists for contemplation of Him. The Law exists for obeying what He had ordained, whilst the Reality concerns witnessing and understanding the order He has decreed: the one is outer, the other inner. I heard the learned Abu ‘Ali ad-Daqgaq say, “The phrase Iyyaka na‘budu (Thee we serve) is for sustaining the Law, whilst Iyyaka nasta‘in! (Thy help we ask) is for affirming the Reality.” Know that the Law is the Reality because God ordained it, and the Reality is also the Law because it is the knowledge of God likewise ordained by Him.”? ‘The two phrases occur in chapter one. Al-Fatiha, “The Opening’, is regarded as the essence of the Qur'an, Its an essential part of all Muslim prayers. 2Qushair, p. 46; extract translated by J.S. Trimingham, The Swf orders in Islam, Oxford, 1973, p. 142“ A History of Sufism in India Another prolific sufi author was Abu'l-Hasan ‘Ali bin ‘Usman bin “Ali al-Ghaznawi al-Jullabi al-Hujwiri. Of his many works only his greatest, the Kashf al-Mahjub, has survived. The most outstanding sufi author, however, was Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad Ghazali (450/1058-S05/1111), from Tus near Mashhad. Educated at Tus, Gurgan and Nishapur, sometime before 1091 Ghazali underwent a period of deep scepticism which prompt- ed him to search for a more meaningful way of life. From 1091 to 1095 he was a professor at the Nizamiyya seminary in Baghdad, which had originally been founded by the Saljuiq vizier, Nizamu'l-Mulk Tusi (b. c 1018, died 1092). Political reasons, as well as his personal aversion to the Jegal wranglings of the ‘ulama’, forced Ghazali to resign in 1095. From that time until 1106, he lived in Syria. During this period Ghazali also travelled to Mecca, visited Alexandria briefly and went to Tus. All this time he lived like a sufi. Ghazali’s greatest work, the Shya’ al-'Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Religious Sciences), was the literary offspring of these years. In 1106, he accepted the post of lecturer at another Nizamiyya seminary, this time in Nishapur. Now he was both an ‘alim and a sufi, with a growing convic- tion that he was personally destined to lead a revival in Islam of its earlier pristine purity (mujaddid). Before his death, Ghazali once more retired to wwe life of a sufi in his own khangah at Tus. But the principal mission of his later years was to reconcile the life of the madrasa, or seminary, to that of the khangah or monastery. Following his period of scepticism, Ghazali studied the Arabic Neo- platonism of al-Farabi (d. 339/950) and Ibn Sina (370/980—428/1037), and wrote a work on their philosophy called the Magasid al-Falasifa. In 488/1095 he compiled a detailed criticism of the philosophical theories which he considered either inconsistent with their authors’ claims or irreconcilable with Sunni beliefs. He called it the Tahafut al-Falasifa (incoherence of the Philosophers). Ghazali, however, did not neglect Aristotelian logic and wrote two books justifying its use for religious purposes. The Ihya’ al-'Ulum is a detailed examination of ‘ibadat (worship), ‘adat (social customs), muhlikat (vices or character faults) and muryjiyat (virtues leading to salvation), Ghazali himself abridged the thya al- ‘Ulum in a Persian edition, and added some new material in order to give further impact to his teachings. The new work, was given the title, the Kimiya’-i Sa‘adat (Alchemy of Fe ity). Ghazali’s other writings on sufism include Mishkat al-Anwar (Niche of Lights) and the Bidayat al- Hidaya (Beginning of Guidance). To Ghazali the mystic path included both intellectual and contempla- tive activities. He acquired a background to the former by reading the works of Haris al-Muhasibi and Abu Talib al-Makki, and also through the various anecdotes about Abu Yazid Bastami and Shibli. ConvincedEarly Sufism 5 that mysticism could not be approached through the mind alone, Ghazali advocated immediate experience (zawg, literally ‘tasting’) attained through ecstasy and a moral rejuvenation. Ghazali’s own ascetic exercises opened for him the door to mysticism. He describes the mystic path, or Tariga this way +... .purity which is the first condition of it (the way). . .is the purifica~ tion of the heart completely from what is other than God.. .the key to it, which. . .corresponds to the opening act of adoration in prayer, is the sinking of the heart completely in the recollection of God; and the end of it is complete absorption (fana') in God. .. this is the end. . .to those first steps which almost come within the sphere of choice and personal responsibility. With this first stage of the ‘way’ there begin the revelations and visions. (They)... .behold angels and the spirits of the prophets; Later a higher stage is reached. . they come to stages in the ‘way which it is hard to describe in language. . .In general what they man- age to achieve is nearness to God. . .He who has attained the mystic state need do no more than say: Of the things I do not remember, what pass was Think it good; do not ask an account of it." ‘Through his own experiences with the mystic path, Ghazali claimed to have achieved the true and unique nature of revelation. This, according to him, was not correctly understood by either scholastic theologians or Philosophers. Ghazali emphasized that heaven and eart will as embodied in His command: ‘Be.’ Hi immanent, but He is not the Absolute of philosophers but the personal God of the Muslims. Singleminded sincerity in prayers by the annibila- tion of everything else in the heart created a situation in which God's love preceded that of His servant; the latter’s qualities were transformed and he became God-like. Ghazali reminded the worshipper: ‘h were created through God’s fe is both transcendent and ‘God differs from (earthly) kings for all His unique majesty and greatness, in inspiring His creatures to ask and make their plea to Him, and He differs from the sultans (of this world) in opening the 1d giving leave to His servants to enter into door and lifting the veil an¢ : confidential intercourse...and He does not limit Himself to per- mission, but He shews His kindness by inspiring desire for this and calling (His servant) to Him. And others, kings who are but ‘AL-Ghazali, al Mungtz min az-calal, “Deliverance from Error’, tr by W.-M. Watt, The Faith and practice of al-Ghazali, London, 1963, pp. 60-1.6 A History of Sufism in India creatures, do not freely grant a private audience except after the offer of gifts and bribery.”! Ghazali’s comments on the beliefs of Abu Yazid and Hallaj are a significant reminder to mystics that the words of passionate lovers in the state of ecstasy should not be spoken but remain concealed Ghazali’s principal contribution to sufism was in the great emphasis he laid on the observance of the outward form of religious activities. The consummation of sufism, according to him, was impossible if associated with a neglect of formal observance. At the same time he insisted that an understanding of the religio-social ethics of Islam necessitated an adherence to its spiritual aspects. Ghazali condemned different forms of pride, vanity, self-conceit, self-deception, envy, jealousy, anger, malice, love of wealth and status. But like al-Muhasibi, it was hypocrisy, which he considered to be a form of polytheism, that was singled out for his most scathing attack. Repent- ance involved an expiation for past evil and a simultaneous examination of one’s inner life. The virtue of patience was also highly recommended by Ghazali; worship of God did not merely include praise of Him but the correct use of what had been endowed by Him. Sufi poetry and political changes in Iran Tt was the prose works of tenth and eleventh century sufis which had the greatest effect in fashioning sufism into an orthodox mould. However, the sensitivity and euphony of transcendental love, as it led to annihila~ tion, found its greatest expression through poetry, particularly that written in Persian. ‘The ruba‘is (quatrains) ascribed to Shaikh Abu Sa‘id bin Abi’l-Khair were, in fact, the great poctical legacy of his predecessors. It was remark- able that such a body of sufi poetical works were available to Shaikh Abu Sa‘id, which he in turn recited in lectures and bequeathed after his death to future generations. Not only in his literary role but also in his reorgani- zation of khangah life did the Shaikh prove himself a pioneer. Abu Sa‘id bin Abi’l-Khair’s rise to prominence augured well for sufism. His own prestige helped to firmly establish the popularity of sufism amidst the new political and orthodox religious movements of the eleventh century in Iran and Central Asia. This was the era of the decline of the political power of the ‘Abbasids and the ascendancy of semi-independent and independent monarchies from amongst Turkic dynasties of Iranian origin. The earliest ruler to establish an independent kingdom was Tahir bin al-Husain. He founded the Tahirid dynasty in Khurasan which ruled from 205/821 to 259/873. The Tahirids were of Iranian descent and 'AL-Ghazali,thyaal-'Uhum al-Din’, extract in An early mystic of Baghdad, p.276.Early Sufism a orthodox Sunnis and their support came mainly from Iranian and Arab military sections and the landed classes. The longest surviving dynasty, although it finally lost independence and was replaced, was the Saffarid. Founded in Sistan in 253/867, by Ya‘quub bin Lays al-Saffar, a copper- smith, it expanded throughout modern Afghanistan to Kabul, close to the very fringes of the Indian sub-continent. In turn, the dynasty yielded to the suzerainty of the Samanids, the Ghaznawids and the Mongols, the latter continued to rule the Sistan region until 885/1480. Between 204/819 and 395/1005, the Samanids ruled Khurasan and Transoxiana with their capital at Bukhara. By the end of the tenth century the Turkic Qarakhanids and the Ghaznawids had smashed their power and the river Oxus became the boundary line between the two powers. ‘The Qarakhanids ruled in Transoxiana and eastern Turkistan between 382/992 and 607/1211. Ghaznawid power was established by Sebuktigin (366/977-387/997) whose career began as a governor of thé Samanids. Yamain al-Dawla Mahmud (388/998-421/1030) established Ghaznawid rule over Khurasan, Afghanistan and the Panjab. Before his death, Mahmud was able to conquer parts of western Iran, including Rayy and Hamadan, His son, Mas‘ud (1030-40), lost Khurasan and Khwarazm to the Saljugs, and in turn the Ghurids of Central Afghanistan crushed the Ghaznawids. The first return blow of the Ghurids was delivered by ‘Ala'u'd-Din who defeated Bahram Shah (1118-52) in two hotly contested battles. As a result Bahram Shah was forced to flee to the Panjab. The devastation and plunder of Ghazna by ‘Ala’w’d-Din’s troops prompted his nickname, Jahan Suz (Incendiary of the World). Under Ghiyas'ud-Din Muhammad of Ghur (558/1163-599/1203) and his brother Shihabu’d-Din (later Mu‘izzu’d-Din Muhammad 599/1203-602/1206) the Ghurid empire, expanded to Bengal in eastern India. The Ghurids weakened the power of the Khwarazm-Shah of Khiva and made serious inroads into the Khurasan region. The Ghurids’ enduring achievement was the conquest of northern India. The Saljugs, who expelled the Ghaznawids from the Khurasan region, were Turkic tribes from the Steppes north of the Caspian and Aral seas. In 429/1038 their leader, Tughril, (1038-63) in his capital Nishapur, proclaimed himself Sultan of Khurasan, at the same time becoming a staunch supporter of Sunni orthodoxy. Under the Saljuqs, the Perso- Islamic pattern of politics in this area crystallized. Its intellectual and political champion was the great vizier, Nizamu'l-Mulk Tusi, The Saljuq government was run by an Iranian bureaucracy and the army by Turkic slave commanders. A number of orthodox intellectuals, including Ghazali, popularized the idea of the interdependence of Muslim kingship and Sunni orthodoxy. According to Ghazali, God sent prophets to lead His people back to Him, Kingship was, in turn designed to prevent aggressive behaviour between people. Monarchs, he wrote, were en- trusted with the material well-being of God’s servants. Their unique6 A History of Sufism in India position endowed them with a special kind of divine light (farr). Under Chingiz, the rise of the Mongols marked the end of Turkic power in Transoxiana. In 1221 the last Khwarazm-Shah, Jalalu'd-Din, was driven by Chingiz across the Indus, and in 1256 the Il-khanid branch of the Mongols seized Baghdad, assassinating the last ‘Abbasid, al- Musta'sim, two years later. The capital of the newly-established Il- khanid empire was Tabriz. However, the Mamluk Turks of Egypt managed to halt the Mongol advance on Syria, at the same time destroy- ing the prevailing myth of Mongol invincibility. Rawandi, a Saljug historian in Anatolia and Turkey, wrote of a super- natural power which spoke from the Meccan Ka‘ba to Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school of Figh, promising him that as long as the sword remained in the hands of the Turks, the Hanafis would not perish. The political upheavals from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries reinforced sufi beliefs in the transitory nature of the world and the neces sity to remain both apart and independent from it. By contrast, the ‘ulama,’ dependent on the state economically, became embroiled in political activities. Sufis were now in a position to remain independent from the government for merchants and craft guilds assumed positions as their patrons. The intimate relationship between guilds and sufi khangahs can be seen in stories connected with the life of Abu Sa‘id bin Abil-Khair. Having dealt with the major political changes between the tenth and thirteenth centuries in order to give a background to the sufi movement, we shall now return to a description of sufi poetry, khanqahs and the movement's leading figures. To illustrate the life of mystics in this period, four sufi poets will be discussed briefly. Abu Sa‘id Fazlu’lah bin Abi’l-Khair, the great Iranian sufi and a transmitter of Persian poetry, was born on 1 Muharram 357/7 December 967 in Mayhana, the present Me’ana, between Abiward and Sarakhs, in Khurasan. His father, Babu Bu’l-Khair, was a druggist as well as a sufi. Although there were numerous ribats (hospices) and khangahs scattered throughout Khurasan, many sufis in Mayhana, Abu Sa‘id’s father in- cluded, preferred to live, and hold sama‘ rituals, in their own houses. At the request of his mother, as a boy, Abu Sa‘id was taken to the house of a sufi where a sama‘ party was being held. There the following quat- rain, sung by a gawwal or musician, made a deep and lasting impression on him: “God gives the dervish love—and love is woe; By dying near and dear to Him they grow. The generous youth will freely yield his life, ‘The man of God cares naught for worldly show. "Rahat al-Sudur, London, 1921, pp. 13, 17. PRA. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic mysticism, Cambridge, 1967, p. 3.Early Sufism ° Abu Sa‘id obtained a religious education at Mayhana, Marw and Sarakhs. Although he learnt Figh, Qur'anic exegesis and Hadis, he remained profoundly devoted to sufism. Abu'l-Qasim Bishr-i Yasin of Mayhana was his first guide in mysticism and filled him with a strong belief in the disinterested love of God. He requested his pupil to learn by heart the following Hadis. ‘God said to me on the night of my Ascension, O Muhammad! as for those who would draw nigh to Me, their best means... .is by performance of the obligations which I have laid upon them. My servant continually seeks to win My favour by works of supereroga~ tion until [ove him; and when [ove him, I am to him an ear and an eye and a hand and a helper: through Me he hears, and through Me he sees, and through Me he takes.” Bishr also suggested that Abu Sa‘id recite the following quatrain, in order to be able to converse with God: ‘Without Thee, O Beloved, I cannot rest; Thy goodness towards me I cannot reckon. Tho’ every hair on my body becomes a tongue, , A thousandth part of the thanks due to Thee I cannot tell.’! After Bishr died in 380/990, Abu Sa‘id continued training under Abu'l- Fazl Muhammad bin Hasan al-Sarakhsi at Sarakhs. His teacher's influence made Abu Sa‘id abandon his formal education. Abu'l-Fazi recorded that Abu Sa‘id obtained a khirga (a cloak which marked sufi initiation) from the celebrated mystic writer, al-Sulami. He also received another Khirga, this time from an Amul sufi, Abu'l--Abbas al-Qassab. ‘Abu Sa‘id spent about seven years living as a hermit and later practised ascetic exercises in a ribat-i kuhan, an old deserted ribat. His father’s description of Abu Sa‘id’s penance is valuable as it describes a unique spiritual practice. ‘My son. . .walked on until he reached the ribat-i kuhan. He entered it and shut the gate behind him, while I went up on the roof. I saw STs etal sh was in the ribat, and close the door. him go into a chapel whicl Looking through the chapel window, I waited to see what would happen. There was @ stick lying on the floor, and it had a rope fastened to it. He took up the stick and tied the end of the rope to his, foot. Then, laying the stick across the top of a pit that was at the corner of the chapel, he slung himself into the pit head downwards, and began to recite the Qur'an. He remained in that posture until IR.A. Nicholson, Studies n Islamic mysticism, Cambridge, 1967, p. 5. <A History of Sufism in India daybreak, when, having recited the whole Qur'an, he raised himself from the pit, replaced the stick where he had found it, opened the door, came out of the chapel, and commenced to perform his ablu- tion in the middle of the ribat. I descended from the roof, hastened home, and slept until he came in.’! ‘The following passage is Abu Sa‘id’s own summary of his self-mortifica- tions: “When I was a novice, I bound myself to do eighteen things: I fasted continually; I abstained from unlawful food ; I practised recollection (kr) uninterruptedly ; I kept awake at night; I never reclined on the ground; I never slept but in a sitting posture; I sat facing the Ka‘ba; Tnever leaned against anything; I never looked at a handsome youth or at women whom it would have been unlawful for me to see unveiled; I did not beg; I was content and resigned to God’s will; I always sat in the mosque and did not go into the market, because the Prophet said that the market is the filthiest of places and the mosque the cleanest. In all my acts I was a follower of the Prophet. Every four-and-twenty hours I completed a recitation of the Qur'an. In my seeing I was blind, in my hearing deaf, in my speaking dumb. Fora whole year I conversed with no one. People called me a lunatic, and I allowed them to give me that name, relying on the Tradition that a man’s faith is not made perfect until he is supposed to be mad. I performed everything that I had read or heard of as having been done or commanded by the Prophet." Every available means to crush the instinct of his nafs or lower self was adopted by Abu Sa‘id. In order to achieve self-abasement, he performed various services to the poor such as bring them water, and helping them in heavy labouring. For the dervishes, he would clean their cells, lavatories and privies. Feeling that begging was the. most difficult and humbling task of all, Abu Sa‘id would ask for food for his fellow sufis. Through this experience he came to believe that the shortest way to God was in extending material comfort to his fellow Muslims.3 Around 415/1024, Abu Sa‘id settled in Nishapur. There he became a sufi preacher attracting large audiences. On one occasion, the number of sufis in his khangah was estimated as eighty travellers and forty per- manent residents. Abu Sa‘id’s stay in Nishapur upset the Karramist IR.A. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic mysticism, Cambridge, 1967, pp. 13-4. 2ibid, p. 15. °Muhammad bin Munawwar, Asraru't-Tawhid, Tehran, 2nd edition, 1348/1969, pp. 34-7, 4A Sunni sect which was very popular in Khurasan around 370/980-81. The Karrami leader, Muhammad bin Ibrahim Simjur, prompted Mahmud of Ghazna to persecute @ large number ofthe Isma‘ili Shi'is. Their main centre was in Nishapur.Early Sufism 1 and other theologians, including the Shi‘is, who wrote to Mahmud of Ghazna with the following complaint: “A certain man has come hither from Mayhana and pretends to be a sufi. He preaches sermons but does not quote the Traditions of the Prophet. He holds sumptuous feasts and music is played by his orders, whilst the young men dance and eat sweetmeats and roasted fowls and all kinds of fruit. He declares that he is an ascetic, but this is nieither asceticism nor sufism. Multitudes have joined him and are being led astray. Unless measures be taken to repair it, the mischief will soon become universal. The Sultan ordered leading Shafi'i and Hanafi ‘ulama’ to make a thorough investigation of Abu Said and, if guilty, to punish him accord- ing to the Shari‘a. This tended to disturb the equanimity of the Nishapur sufis, but not the Shaikh’s. Through his telepathic powers, he was aware of the proposed inquiry. A sumptuous feast was duly ordered and the Shaikh’s indifference to worldly authorities, coupled by his supernatural powers, succeeded in stunning his opponents. Feeling rapped, the “ulama’ decided to drop their case against Shaikh Abu Said. However, the latter's extravagant spending and entertainments involving music and dancing, which were often attended by young boys, shocked many sufis. Among them was al-Qushairi, the author of the Risala, who had spent his whole life attempting to reconcile orthodoxy and the sufi move- ment, The Shaikh’s biographers however, mention a number of stories in which the two sufis were reconciled through Abu Sa‘id’s use of tele- pathy. The personal life of the Shaikh also amazed many in Nishapur, Some- times he wore wool, sometimes silk. Once Abu Sa‘id shocked his audience ‘The founder of the sect was Abu ‘Abdu'llah Muhammad bin Karram of Sistan who died in Jerusalem in c, 255/869. The following were the chief tenets of the Karramiya:*.- the Divine Being is a Substance (jawhar), for which some of his followers substituted Body Gism), though without human members, and in contact (mumassa, for which the euphemism Mulagat was substituted) with the Throne, which is located in space. This was apparently 8 deduction from the Qur‘anie “ala }‘arshi‘stawa (VIL, 55; X. 3; XII, 2; XX, 5; te, and, indeed, the est of his theology would seem to have been an endeavour to work the Quranic texts into certain parts of the Aristotelian philosophy, notably the distinction between substance and accident, and that between dinamis and energeia. Thus his followers could ‘maintain that God was “speaking’ before He spoke, and could be worshipped before there ‘Were any worshippers. The doctrine of the eternity of the world was reconciled with the Qurranie creation by some subtle expedients; God, he held, was subject to certain Asch ents, such as willing, perceiving, speaking, coming in contact: over such accidents He has Power, but not over the world and the objects therein which were created not by His Will, Dut by the word kun. Thus, it would seem, the tense in kun fa-yakumu could have its proper meaning. HLA.R. Gibb and J.H. Krames, Shorter encvetopaedia of tslam, Leiden, 1961, p. 22 Studies in Islamic mysticism, p. 29n A History of Sufism in India by declaring, like Hallaj,: ‘there is none other than God in this robe.” At the same time, according to his biographer, Abu Sa‘id pushed his forefinger through his cloak The anecdotes of Abu Sa‘id’s luxurious feasts, in which thousands of candles were burnt during the day, give some indication of the amounts both available, and offered, to sufis by merchants and other devotees at that time. Often former traders and other wealthy disciples, before becoming ascetics, would give all their possessions to a khangah of their choice. Sometimes Shaikh Abu Sa‘id would send his servant, Hasan Mu’addib to raise money for his extravagances from his disciples, and on occasions, from his enemies. He contracted huge debts which were invariably paid by visiting merchant caravans. However, the Shaikh was ‘opposed to a fixed source of income—nothing was accumulated for future use and everything was given away or used the same day it was received. Moreover, the Shaikh took care that his neighbours, and often people from the town, shared the pleasures of his entertainment In Nishapur, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the philosopher, came into contact with the Shaikh, They had many lengthy conversations and some of their exchanges are preserved in the form of correspondence. Ibn Sina’s mystic approach to the soul was the subject of a long ode! and was a recurring point of dispute between the two. Sometime before 425/1033-34, Shaikh Abu Sa‘id left Nishapur intend- ing to make a hajj. Upon reaching Khargan, he was dissuaded by the sufi Abu'l-Hasan Khargani, Abu Sa‘id then travelled to Bastam, Damghan and Rayy, finally returning to Mayhana. He spent the rest of his life there, dying on 4 Sha‘ban 440/12 January 1049, Before the Shaikh’s death, the Saljugs had conquered Khurasan. He managed to maintain amicable relations with Tughril (429/1038-455/ 1063) and was reported as having prophesied that Nizamu'l-Mulk would become a great vizier. Here is an interesting story related by Abu Sa‘id about Mahmud of Ghazna. ‘A high official of Mahmud saw the Sultan in a dream and asked after his health. Mahmud answered: “There is no place for any sultan here. Iam nothing here. The Sultan is God the Most High—- Everything said in the world was wrong.” The officer asked Mahmud to tell him of the treatment meted out to him (from God). Mahmud replied: “I am a prisoner here and have to account for every minor thing that happened during my life. The treasury was enjoyed by someone else, grief and lamentation have befallen me.”""2 'E.G. Browne, 4 literary history of Persia, 11, Cambridge, 1964, pp. 110-11; Inj Afshar ed. Halat wa Sukhanan Shaikh Abu Sa‘id Abu'l-Khair Milni, Tehran, 1349, Iranian era/1970, pp. 113-21. 2Asraru't-Tawhid, p. 268.Barly Sufism B This story was used by the Shaikh to illustrate his own attitude towards wealth, that is, that it should be used for philanthropic purposes only. When a disciple performed an act of kindness to a dervish, he observed that it was better than a hundred genuflexions during prayers; if he gave him a mouthful of food, it was more praiseworthy than an entire night spent praying. The Shaikh believed God’s men were not confined to mosques alone, they were in taverns, too. He described it this way: “The true saint goes in and out amongst the people and eats and sleeps with them and buys and sells in the market and marries and takes part in social intercourse and never forgets God for a single moment."! The following are among some of Shaikh Abu Sa‘id’s definitions on sufism: “Sufism is two things: to look in one direction and to live in one way. Sufism is a name attached to its object; when it reaches its ultimate perfection, it is God. . .(the end of sufism is that, for the sufi, nothing should exist except God), The sufi is he who is pleased with all that God does, in order that God may be pleased with all that he does Sufism is patience under God’s commanding and forbidding, and acquiescence and resignation in the events determined by divine providence. Sufismis the will of the Creator concerning His creatures when no creature exists. To be a sufi is to cease from taking trouble (takalluf); and there is no greater trouble for thee than thine own self (1w'i-yi 1), for when thou art occupied with thyself, thou remainest away from God Even this, sufism, is polytheism (shirk). t) consists in guarding the soul from what is other than God; and there is nothing other than God.”? Unimpressed by miraculous feats of certain sufis, Abu Sa‘id compared those who claimed to walk on water with frogs and waterfowls, and those who claimed to fly through the air with flies and insects, all of whom were similarly mobile.3 To him the first stage of sufi discipline was self morti- fication and the last, contemplation. When the unveiling was completed, ascetic practices and religious forms would not be necessary, for sufis lived ina state of permanent communion with God. There was no hell but self hood, no paradise but selflessness. Shaikh Abu Sa‘id’s efforts to re-organize sufi life were far-reaching. To him sympathy and compassion, rather than punishment, were the Studies in Islamic mysticism, p. 55 ibid, pp. 49-50: ibid, p. 67" A History of Sufism in India most effective means to correct errors in disciple: a high regard for spiritual directors and a bel intercession on behalf of followers and friends. He also popularized the power of their “Whoever has seen me and has done good work for my family and disciples will be under the shadow of my intercession hereafter. I have prayed God to forgive my neighbours on the left, on the right, in front and behind, and He has forgiven them for my sake... My neighbours are Balkh and Marw and Nishapur and Herat. | am not speaking of those who live here (Mayhana).. .1 need not say @ word on behalf of those around me. If any one has mounted an ass and passed by the end of this street, or has passed my house or will pass it, or if the light of my candle falls on him, the least thing that God will do with him is that He will have mercy upon him. : In order to regularize behaviour in different khangahs, Shaikh Abu Sa‘id outlined the following rules of discipline: “1. Let them (the inmates) keep their garments clean and themselves always pure. Let them not sit in the mosque or in any holy place for the sake of gossiping. In the first instance let them perform their prayers in common. Let them pray much at night. ‘At dawn let them ask forgiveness of God and call unto Him, In the morning let them read as much of the Qur‘an as they can, and let them not talk until the sun has risen. 7. Between evening prayers and bedtime prayers let them occupy themselves with repeating some litany (Wirdi-w-zikri), 8. Let them welcome the poor and needy and all who join theit company, and let them bear patiently the trouble of (waiting upon) them. 9. Let them not eat anything save in participation with one another. 10. Let them not absent themselves without receiving permission from ‘one another.”2 Large numbers of visitors came to the Shaikh’s khangah until 548/1153 when the invasion of the Ghuzz Turkic tribes completely devastated the region. Many of the Shaikh’s own family were massacred by theit conquerors. One of Shaikh Abu Sa‘id’s ten most eminent disciples, Baba Sa'd Dust Dada, founded a khangah in Baghdad. After being assigned the area of Baghdad as his spiritual domain, Dust Dada arrived there from Studies in Islamic mysticism, pp. 64-5. 2ibid, p. 46.Barly Sufism 5 Mayhana. He applied to the Caliph, al-Qa’im, (422/1031-467/1075), for land to build a khangah on the banks of the Tigris, across the river in an uninhabited region. After receiving permission, a plot of about 200 square yards was selected by Dust Dada and he began collecting ina small bag, building material from dilapidated buildings nearby. Meanwhile a caravan of merchants and sufis arrived in Baghdad and at his request, camped on the land. Dust Dada would take his zanbil! into the town to beg food, and then offered it to the campers. At prayer times he would lead. Impressed with his charity and self-sacrifice, members of the caravan returned his hospitality by giving him a considerable amount of money. After their departure, Dust Dada proceeded to build a khangah with a big covered platform, a jama‘at-khana (assembly hall), kitchen and lava~ tory. Other buildings in the complex were a large arcaded mosque and a number of cells. When the caravan returned, Dust Dada again invited its members to his khangah. They were amazed to find so many elegant buildings erected in such a short time, As before, the Shaikh begged food for his guests, and they again re-paid him liberally. This enabled him to complete the khangah by adding a hammam (bath), more rooms and assembly halls. Later Dust Dada erected a bazaar of shops and a caravanserai in front of the khangah’s gateway. This is the first detailed description of a khangah complex which is available at the present time, however, all khangahs were not built on such a grand scale; a few cells and a jama‘at-khana, plus a mosque and a lavatory, were generally their main components. The fame of Dust Dada’s khangah attracted many sufis, and most of the people of Baghdad became his disciples. The Caliph, accompanied by his chief officials, also visited the khangah where he was greatly impressed by the sight of more than fifty sufis praying in the jama‘at-khana. It appears that after Dust Dada had made the Caliph his disciple, the latter entrusted the welfare of the all Baghdadi Muslims to him. This increased Dust Dada’s popularity with the local people, and many requested him to act as a go-between when requesting favours from the Caliph, who built himself a palace near the khangah complex. Dust Dada became known as the Shaikh al-Shuyukh, or chief sufi, of Baghdad. So great was his prestige that he was revered like a Caliph? Although Dust Dada’s influence was profound, it was also fleeting, The emergence of other sufi orders in Baghdad eclipsed the fame of his successors. The story of Dust Dada is significant, however, as it serves to illustrate the interrelation between khangahs, caravans, merchants and suis. ‘Among early Persian sufi poets whose biographical details and writings "Literally a basket made of palm leaves, technically a bag hung across the shoulder to collect food obtained by begging locally. The custom is obviously of Buddhist origin. 2Asraru't-Tawhid, pp. 362-67.16 A History of Sufism in India appear reasonably authentic was Baba Tahir. The major part of his life was spent in the area between Hamadan and Luristan. This region was ruled by the Shiti Buwayhids! or Buyids. In 447/1055 when the Saljuq conqueror, Sultan Tughril, entered Hamadan, Baba Tahir was still al and is reported to have encountered Tughril, reproaching him saying: ‘Oh Turk, how are you going to act towards the Muslims"? In his verses Baba Tahir referred to himself as a wandering dervish (darwish-i qalandar), with no roof over his head, sleeping with a stone for a pillow, constantly harassed by spiritual anxieties. From his writings Baba Tahir appears to be deeply in sympathy with the realities of life. He admitted that his eyes and heart found it difficult to de- tach themselves from the things of the world and that his He cried out soul was restless ‘Art thou a lion, a panther, Oh my Heart, thou who are continually struggling with me. If thou fallest into my hands, I shall spill thy blood to see what colour thou art...” One of Baba Tahir’s mystic works, consisting of his Arabic maxims, al-Kalimat al-Qisar (Brief Sayings), has been published. The subjects he deals with are knowledge (‘ilm), gnosis (ma‘rifa), inspiration and penetration (itham and firasa), reason and the soul ‘ag! and nafs), this world and beyond (dunya and ‘ugba), the musical performance (sama’), recollection (zikr), sincerity and spiritual retreat (iichlas and i'tikaf). Later authors wrote several Arabic and Persian commentaries on the aphorisms contained in this work. V. Minorsky selected the following examples as an illustration of Baba Tahir’s beliefs: “Real knowledge is the intuition after the knowledge of certainty has been acquired. . .Ecstasy (wajd) is the loss (of the knowledge) of existing things and is the existence of lost things.” “He who has been the witness of predestination (coming) from God Temains without movement and without volition.” “He whom ignorance has slain has never lived, he whom the ikr has killed will never die.’3 The rise of this dynasty synchronized with the establishment of the Samanids in Khurasan. ‘They first ruled in the Iranian plateau and then in Iraq. The founders of the dynasty came from the Daylamite region of the highlands of Gilan. From 320/932 to 454/1062, they ruled in Tran and Traq, owing nominal allegiance to the ‘Abbasid Caliphs. Mahmud of Ghazna weakened the Buwayhids, but their power was later revived, It was, however, the Saljug, Tughril, 1038-63, who occupied Baghdad in 447/1055, and claimed to have liberated. the Caliph from the overlordship of the Shi'i heretics.” *Rawandi, Rahatu's-Sudur, London, 1921, p. 99. Bneyclopaedia of Islam (new edition), I, p- 41Early Sufism -1 However, the sufi poet whose impact was the greatest during the eleventh century was Khwaja Abu Isma‘il ‘Abdu'llah Ansari of Herat. He was born in the Herat citadel on 2 Sha‘ban 396/4 May 1006 and died in the same city on 22 Zu'I-hijja 481/8 March 1089. His tomb in Gazirgah, about three miles north-east of Herat was first rebuilt by the Timurid ruler, Shah Rukh, (807/1405-850/1447) about 829/1425 and later was further embellished by other Timurid princes. Herat, a city on the Hari Rud, in what is now western Afghanistan, then formed part of Khurasan, having submitted to the Arab governor of Khurasan in the middle of the seventh century aD. Strategically located on the trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and India and China, Herat proved a natural source from which the fame of its Teading sufi was to spread widely. Ansari was a trained theologian but after his conversion to sufism, disputes with the ‘ulama’ resulted in several attempts on his life. Finally his prestige and popularity helped topreventfurtherattacks. A largenumber of disciples were attracted to his, Jecturesand he became knownasShaikhu'l-Islam (Leader of the Muslims). He was also known simply as the Pir, or spiritual director, of Herat. Ansari’s works both in prose and poetry, are of great significance amongst sufi literary works. His Manazil al-Sa’irin is more original than Qushairi’s Risala, Ansari’s Tabagat al-Sufiyya was a rejuvenated work on Sulami’s earlier book on which it was based. Jami’s Nafahatu'l-Uns (Whispers of Confidence) was to later incorporate the whole of Harawi’s Tabagat al-Sufiyya and to up-date it. Ansari’s short tracts on sufism represented a peak in the expression of sufi asceticism. In these tracts his style was unique; he joined short sentences of rhymed prose, inter- spersing them with verses, mostly of his own composition. Ansari’s Munajat or Invocations, the greatest masterpiece written in Persian, features a conversation between God and a soul. Indeed it is unique in mystic literature. E.G. Browne’s translation of a smalll section from the Munajat is as follows: *O God! Two pieces of iron are taken from one spot, one becomes a horse-shoe and one a king’s mirror. O God! Since Thou hadst the Fire of Separation, why didst Thou raise up the Fire of Hell? O God! I fancied that 1 knew Thee, but now I have cast my fancies into the water. O God! I am helpless and dizzy; I neither know what I have, nor have what I know!” Here are two quatrains, which have been attributed to Ansari: ‘Great shame it is to deem of high degree Thyself, or over others reckon thee; Strive to be like the pupil of thine eye— To see all else, but not thyself to see.”8 A History of Sufism in India ‘need no wine nor cup: I'm drunk with Thee; Thy quarry I, from other snares set free: In Ka‘ba and Pagoda Thee I seek: Ka‘ba, Pagoda, what are these to me?" ‘The following extracts from Jogendra Singh’s translation of Ansari Munajat shows the typical ideas which were crystallizing in the sufi move- ment during the eleventh century: ‘Know that the Prophet built an external Ka‘ba Of Clay and water, And an inner Ka‘ba in life and heart. The outer Ka‘ba was built by Abraham, The Holy; The inner is sanctified by the glory of God Himself.’ ‘On the path of God Two places of worship mark the stages. The material temple, And the temple of the heart. Make your best endeavour To worship at the temple of the heart.” ‘Fasting only means the saving of bread, Formal prayer is the business Of old men and women, Pilgrimage is a pleasure of the world. Conquer the heart, Its subjection is conquest indeed.” ‘If thou canst walk on water Thou art no better than a straw. If thou canst fly in air Thou art no better than a fly. Conquer thy heart That thou mayest become somebody.” “One man spends seventy years in learning, And fails to kindle the light. Another, all his life learns nothing And hears one word And is consumed by that word.” 1A literary history of Persia, W, p. 10.Early Sufism » ‘On this path argument is of no avail; Seek, and thou mayest find the truth.” ‘Helpless in childhood, Intoxicated in youth, And decrepit in old age; Then, O helpless one, when couldst thou Worship God?! During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries sufi poetry reached its highest peak in the form of masnawis or narrative poems. The three greatest exponents of this style were the sufi poets Sana’i, ‘Attar and Rumi (or Maulawi). Of these, Abu’l-Majd Majdud Sana’i, was born in Ghazna, or Balkh in the fifth/eleventh century and believed to have died in Ghazna in 525/ 1130-31. Browne, however, has suggested he died later, around 1150. Early in his career Sana’i was a court poet, competing with a galaxy of other Persian poets who wrote panegyrics to the Ghaznawid sultans. After some time, he relinquished his post, retiring to the life of a dervish. As a means of expressing his feelings on meditation and the contempla- tive life, Sana’i used ghazals or couplets. His best-known epic is the Hadigatu'l-Hagiga wa Shari‘atu't-Tariga (The Garden of Truth and Law of the Way), from which a parable was quoted in the beginning of this chapter. Through anecdotes and allegories, Sana'i traced sufi theories on God, Muhammad, reason, gnosis, a carefree trust in God, heaven, philosophy and love. At the same time he related some of his ‘own experiences. ‘The following extract from a ghazal by Sana’ illustrates the sufi way of expressing love of the Divine. “That heart which stands aloof from pain and woe No seal of signature of Love can show: Thy Love, thy Love I chose, and as for wealth, If wealth be not my portion, be it so! For wealth, I ween, pertaineth to the World; Ne’er can the World and Love together go! So long as Thou dost dwell within my heart ‘Ne’er can my heart become the thrall of Woe.? Although Sana’i’s work, The Garden of Truth and Law of the Way, was dedicated to Sultan Bahram Shah of Ghazna (1118-52), the author was not hoping for temporal rewards from his ruler. Perso-Islamic The Persian mystics, pp. 35-6. 2A literary history of Persia, Il, p. 322.