Blessings: Hazrat Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (RA)
: Haji Syed Salman Chishty
Tera dayar hai
Darussalam ya Khawaja
Tajalliya hai nai subho sham ya Khawaja
Na fikr mein na gham e jam tere masto ko
Teri ek nigah se chalta hai kaam ya Khawaja
Your Abode is the Abode of Peace O Khawaja
Every moment day and night there is Divine Light
O Khawaja
There are no worries nor any sorrow upon those
Who are content with your Love O Khawaja
My Life goes on just by your Loving glance
O Khawaja
The 1st of March 2020 (6th Rajab) this year marked the 808th (Hijri) annual Shab-e-Urs or Passing On to the Divine realm anniversary of the greatest and most humble mystic saint of the Indian sub-continent, Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty (RA), who is uniquely known as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (Benefactor of the Poor) among the masses across South Asia. Devotees and pilgrims from all over the world converge at the dargah in Ajmer Sharif to pay their respects.
Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty is one of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism. He was born in Sejistan around 533 H / 1138 A.D to Khawaja Ghayasuddin and Syeda Bibi Ummalwara (alias Bibi MaheNoor), who were the direct descendants of Hazrat Ali through his sons Hazrat Imam Hassan and Hazrat Imam Hussain. As a young child, Khwaja Gharib Nawaz was drawn to Sufi mystics. He began visiting seminaries in Samarkand and Bukhara which were then important centers of Islamic learning. On the way to Iraq at Harvan, he met Khawaja Uthman-e- Harooni and joined the circle of his disciples.
The Chishty Sufi order derives its name from a Chist-e-sharif, a village near Herat in Afghanistan where the founder of the order Hazrat Abu Ishq Shami of Syria had settled.
Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty brought the Chishty Sufi order to the Indian sub-continent at the close of the 11th century A.D. and established its center in Ajmer Sharif, from where it spread all over South Asia. Khawaja Gharib Nawaz brought the message of universal love, peace, and brotherhood. He chose the way of non-compulsion in the true spirit of the Holy Quran, which says –
“Let there be no compulsion in religion. A Truth stands out clear from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And Allah hearth and Knoweth all things.” (Quran 2:256)
Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty is a shining luminary from the family of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The light of his personality has dispelled the darkness, and has illuminated thousands of hearts throughout the world. He is not only respected, esteemed, honored, and implored but is in fact is the focus of attention and a center of hope to myriads of people, belonging as they do to different castes, creed, religions, and nationalities.
He indeed is a true devotee blessed with the love of God
who is gifted with the following three tributes –riverl
ike generosity, sun- like bounty, earth- like hospitality
Khawaja Gharib Nawaz
The spiritual descendants of Gharib Nawaz are to be found in the Qutbi, Faridi, the Nizami, the Sabiri, and other Sufi orders which owe existence to the patron Sufi Master and remain the torch-bearers of his message of universal love.
Chishty Sufism is both an experience and a memory. It is the experience of remembering God so intensely that the heartburns, the soul is destroyed. It is also the memory of those who remembered God, those who were devoted to discipline and prayer but above all, to remember, whether they recited the Divine name (Zikr) or evoked His presence through music (Sama).
The heart of a lover (the true devotee of God) constantly
burns with the fire of Love so much so that whatever
(passion) intrudes upon its sanctity is burnt to ashes
– Khawaja Gharib Nawaz
if every hair of my body were given a voice, yet I won’t be able to express my thanks for my Khwaja
Initially, the Chishty message was directed to South Asia, but it has now become a diverse global phenomenon upon which many feel free to draw, whether within the framework of traditional South Asian Islam or beyond that framework.
Besides being a great Sufi mystic, Khawaja Gharib Nawaz was an erudite scholar and poet. He left a collection of his poems in Persian. I leave the readers with a translation of a very beautiful verse which I often hear while walking through the blessed lanes of Ajmer Sharif.
“The clouds of mercy have spread out ecstatically
For spring has arrived in the garden of Chisht .
Friends, get a ticket to Ajmer
For Khwajah’s festival has arrived.
The soul acquires peace in Ajmer
Life smiles in Ajmer .
A treasure of mercies lies in Ajmer.
Khawaja’s tale took place in Ajmer.
Why do you hesitate?
Pay heed to what I say
Once this opportunity slips away it will not return
Friends, get a ticket to Ajmer.”
