BOOK EXCERPTS (Mar 2026)

SANGAM - 25 STORIES OF GREAT SAINTS

                           
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SHAIKH NIZAM-U'D-DIN-AULIYA :
THE CHISHTI LUMINARY OF MEDIEVAL INDIA

“Though God’s bounty is always there, whatever one can achieve is through the dint of his effort. Under no circumstances can one earn anything without struggle.”

The above quote by Shaikh Nizam u’d-din-Auliya symbolizes his own life which, at least in the early years, was full of struggle and penury.

Nizam’s parents originally belonged to Bukhara (in modern-day Uzbekistan) but were forced to leave due to the invasion of Genghis Khan, the marauding Mongol, who looted the city and reduced it to a mere rubble. Only a few managed to escape the holocaust and amongst them was Nizam’s family who reached India and settled at Badayun (in modern-day state of Uttar Pradesh, India). It was here that Nizam was born in 1244 AD.

Soon after Nizam’s birth, his father fell ill and passed away. Thus, Nizam-u’d-din was brought up by his widowed mother who was a woman of great piety, dedicated to high moral and spiritual values. It was she who ingrained in Nizam a deep love for religious devotion, as well as a spirit of resignation and contentment which so symbolized Nizam’s activities throughout his life.

Nizam-u’d-din lived in Badayun for sixteen years and received his early education there. These were the days of struggle and financial deprivation. His mother and sister were the only other members of his family and all three of them bore the pangs of poverty and starvation with courage, fortitude and resignation to God’s will.

Nizam’s mother, though penniless, was spiritually invincible and she made poverty itself a thing to be prided in. Often when Nizam would come back from school, exhausted and hungry, there would be nothing to eat at home. At such times his mother would say to him, “Nizam-u’d-din! Today we are the guests of God.” Amazingly, the young Nizam would derive so much comfort from this sentence that he always longed to hear it from her – even when there was no shortage of food in the house!

In order to avail of the better academic opportunities that the flourishing capital of the Delhi Sultanate provided, Nizam sought his mother’s permission to shift to Delhi from Badayun. In those days, Delhi was one of the greatest centers of learning in the Eastern world of Islam – a result of Muslim intellectual elites being driven out of their countries by the cataclysmic Mongol invasions, which turned large swathes of Central Asia into graveyards.

Barani, a contemporary historian, describes in following words the high status that Delhi enjoyed:

“There were scholars in Delhi, each one a top-master in his subject, the like of whom could not be found in Bukhara, Samarkand, Baghdad, Egypt, Khwarazm, Damascus, Tabriz, Isfahan, Constantinople (Istanbul), or anywhere on the inhabited globe. They could split hairs in any subject, traditional or rational, that one can think of – e.g. Exegesis, law, jurisprudence, principles of theology, grammar, lexicography, literary ingenuity, and logic...”

To enjoy academic prestige in such a city with a long list of distinguished scholars was in-fact the highest recognition that any upcoming scholar could hope for, and this is exactly what Nizam-u’d-din Auliya succeeded in doing as he made his mark as a brilliant scholar. Soon after becoming a scholar of great repute, Nizam became a disciple of Shaikh Farid who was a hugely charismatic figure of his time.

Shaikh Farid was based at Ajodhan (now in modern-day Pakistan) and Nizam-u’d-din’s decision to proceed to Ajodhan was taken suddenly and under dramatic circumstances. One day as the Nizam was busy in his morning prayers, he heard a muazzin (one who calls for prayers) recite the following verse from the Quran:

“Has not the time arrived
For the believers that
Their hearts in all humility
Should engage in the remembrance of God” (S.LVII:16)

Hearing this verse, Nizam-u’d-din felt an emotional storm surging within him and he left for Ajodhan immediately without any provisions for the journey.

Nizam was twenty-years of age when he reached the crumbling hut of his spiritual master. Shaikh Farid, now in his ninetieth year, was revered throughout India. Nizam became extremely nervous when he was conducted to the presence of this great master, but unknown to him, Shaikh Farid too had been looking forward to the arrival of his successor. Thus, on seeing Nizam-u’d-din, Baba Farid uttered the following couplet:

“The fire of your separation has burnt many hearts,
The storm of desire to meet you has ravaged many lives.”

The Shaikh then initiated Nizam-u’d-din into the Chishti Order of Sufism and asked his disciple to settle in Delhi, capital of the powerful Mamluk and Khilji dynasties.

Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din Auliya was one of the most charismatic personalities of South Asia – a saint, a scholar, a humanist, a pacifist – all combined together.

The Nizam firmly believed that if a man leant to ‘live for God alone’, the very basis of human relationships would change. He was a resolute advocate of non-violence as he believed that violence would create more problems than it would solve. He advised his disciples to be good to their enemies also and would often recite the following verse:

“He who is not my friend – may God be his friend
And he who bears ill-will against me, may his joys increase in life.
He who puts thorns in my way on account of enmity,
May every flower that blooms in the garden of his life be without thorns.”

The saint’s mausoleum, a 14th century monument known as Nizamuddin Dargah, is located in South Delhi, India. Famous for its evening qawwali (devotional music) sessions, the site is a major center for spiritual, cultural, and communal harmony. The complex includes the white marble, double-domed shrine, a mosque, a stepwell, and tombs of poet Amir Khusrau and princess Jahanara. 


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