The Fragrance of Imam Ali A.S in India— “Bu Ali” Shah Qalandar: The Indian Saint Who is the Scent of Maula Ali
By Ghulam Rasool
Dehlvi, New Age Islam
3 July 2024
Saints Are the Scents
of Imam Ali—The Head of Islamic Sainthood [Wilayat]—Especially in The Indian
Subcontinent. Among Those Indian Sufi Mystics, Shaikh Sharafuddin Bu Ali Shah
Qalandar Famously Known as “Bu Ali” (The Fragrance of Imam Ali A.S) Was Born In
Panipat In 1209 AD (605 AH), The Present-Day Haryana, India, Where His Tomb Is
Also Situated And Venerated Today Both Muslims And Non-Muslims Of The Country
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غلامِ روئے اُو بُودَم، اسیرِ بُوئے اُو بودم
غبارِ کوئے اُو بودم، نمی دانم کجا رفتم
Ghulam-i-Roo-e Ou Boodam, Aseer-i-Boo-e Ou
Boodam
Ghubar-i-Koo-e Ou Boodam, Nami Danam Kuja
Raftam
[Diwan E
Hazrat Sharafuddeen Bu Ali Qalandar]
Translation:
I fell in love with him as a slave of his face, and I find myself captivated by
his beautiful fragrance and scent. I became a dust of his street, and I do not
know where I am moving.
Shaikh
Sharafuddin Bu Ali Shah Qalandar RA is indeed the scent and fragrance of
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Wali (substitute) Imam Ali A.S in India. No
wonder why the holy Prophet (pbuh) reportedly said: I find a fragrance and the
scent of heaven coming from the dust of Hind (India). He also felt a cool
breeze coming from Hindustan, as reported in a hadith and encapsulated in an
Urdu couplet by Allama Iqbal:
Meer-e-Arab (ﷺ) Ko Aayi Thandi Hawa Jahan Se
Mera Watan Wohi Hai, Mera Watan Wohi Hai
Saints are
the scents of Imam Ali A.S—the head of Islamic sainthood [Wilayat]—especially
in the Indian subcontinent. Among those Indian Sufi Mystics, Shaikh Sharafuddin
Bu Ali Shah Qalandar famously known as “Bu Ali” (the fragrance of Imam Ali A.S)
was born in Panipat in 1209 AD (605 AH), the present-day Haryana, India, where
his tomb is also situated and venerated today both Muslims and non-Muslims of
the country.
He was one
of the descendants of Imam e Aazam Abu Hanifa Numan Bin Sabit—a spiritual heir,
student and disciple of Imam Ja’afar e Sadiq AS, who was a descendant of the
holy Prophet (pbuh). It is also said that he was the cousin of Sheikh
Jamaluddin Ahmad Hanswi, a direct descendant of Imam Abu Hanifa, and a renowned
Persian jurist of Islam who was born at Ghazni, (Khorasan). Bu Ali Shah
Qalandar’s father was Syed Muhammad Abul Hassan Fakharuddin also known as “Fakhar e Alam” and was a great scholar
and saint of his time, and his mother Bibi Fatima was also a prominent mystic.
The reason
why he was called “Bu Ali Qalandar” was touching to know. Since childhood, the
young Sharfuddin had a deep wish. He prayed for Imam Ali A.S to reincarnate in
him i.e. he wanted and strived to embody the life and teachings and persona of
Syedna Imam Ali A.S. One day, he met a Saint who told him the truth: ‘Ali is
only One. No one can take his place’. So, you can’t get to his position.
However, you will be blessed with his fragrance and spiritual scent. Since
then, the Qalandar became intoxicated by the fragrance of Imam Ali A.S, and
from that day he started calling himself “Bu Ali”. Later on, he came to learn
that the Saint he met was none other than Ali A.S himself. This ignited his
inner mystical world which was filled with the passion and adoration of Imam
Ali A.S, as he enumerates in a Persian couplet:
Haidariyyam Qalandaram Mastam, Banda e Murtaza
Ali Hastam,
Peshwa-e-Tamam Rindaanam, Keh Sag e
Koo-e-Sher-i-Yazdanam
Translation: I am a Haydari Qalandar [a mystic of Maula
Ali]. I live in servitude to Ali Murtaza. I am the Master of all those who are
intoxicated with him, and I’m like a dog roaming around the lanes of Allah’s
Lion.
According
to the famous historical Urdu document on the Saints of Indian Subcontinent Tazkira-e-Awliya-e-Hind-o-Paak, once
Hazrat Ali (Karramallahu Wajhahu)
rescued him out of a river. Since then, he became intoxicated with the
spiritual state of Jazb and ecstasy. He began to live in an ecstatic state of
absorption (Mast-o-Alast) all the
time, and hence he is called “Qalandar e
Haydari” (the Mystic of Haydar e
Karrar).
Once,
Hazrat Bu Ali Shah Qalandar was teaching his students in the historical mosque
“Masjid Quwatul Islam” as usual.
Suddenly a dervish passed by. He stood in front of Bu Ali Shah Qalandar and
chanted the Divine Name three times in a loud and clear voice. Bu Ali became
silent and started looking at him. Then the dervish addressed him directly and
said: Sharafuddin, recall the purpose for which Allah has sent you to this
world. Why did you forget that? You should first finish the work you came to
complete. Then you can keep teaching. The magic in the words of this dervish
captivated Bu Ali Shah Qalandar at that very moment, and he said goodbye to all
his students. They kept running after him but he rushed and disappeared. Out of
his state of absorption (Jazb-o-Masti),
he started traveling and wandering from town to town. If he spent his morning
somewhere, his evening would be somewhere else. Most of the times, he was
fasting. At the time of breaking the fast, he would eat only a little or
leftover. Otherwise he would break his fast with just a glass of water. In this
condition, Bu Ali Shah Qalandar went outside India and thus he came across the
two great Saints—Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi and his Murshid Hazrat Shams Tabrizi,
who honoured him with a Jubba (robe)
and tied a turban (Dastar) on his
head.
Hazrat Bu
Ali Qalandar was keenly fond of poetry. Often he used to compose and recite
poems in Persian. On some occasions, he also recited Fil Badeeh Ash’ar
(extempore poems) and surprised the audience. His Persian poetry is still
quenching the thirst of spiritual seekers who are greatly benefiting from his
writings—collected in Masnavi Bu Ali Qalandar— especially on Divine Love
(Ishq-e-Ilahi).
Take a
glimpse:
"Open your eyes and hearts and look carefully at what the Lover
(the Divine) has created for you with His Ishq
(love) and how He has shown it so clearly. He decorated a tree with His beauty
and produced different kinds of fruits. He put a taste in each fruit. A tree is
neither aware of its own nature nor its flowers nor its fruits. He has created
for you sweet sugar which might not be aware of its sweetness. He put musk in
the navel of the deer for your sake, and the deer itself does not know about
it. He created amber for you from the sea cow, and fragrance for you with musk.
He produced camphor for you from the tree, while the tree itself does not know
camphor. But if you know yourself well, everything will be recognized within
you”.
A
collection of his letters to his disciples has appeared in the book form. These
letters are a prime text on the topic of “Tawheed”
(Oneness of God). In short, but the code is rich in unity and knowledge. His
book, Diwan-e- Sharafuddin Bu Ali Qalandar is a great collection of poetry on
Divine Love in Persian. His Persian poems include Ghazals, quatrains, and other genres.
Tellingly,
Bu Ali Shah Qalandar was also a lover of Delhi’s Divine Lover—Aashiq Allah
Hazrat Sheikh Shahabuddin, a Mureed and Khalifa of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar
Kaki RA. It is also said that he himself was a disciple and caliph of Qutbuddin
Bakhtiar Kaki. Some maintain that he was the Khalifa of Sheikh Najamuddin
Qalandar. Hazrat Bu Ali Qalandar passed away on the 13th of Ramadan 724 AH
(September 1324). His close disciple and caliph, Hazrat Makhdoom Latifuddin
Danishmand, became a Sufi sage of great merit, whose shrine is situated in
Morah Talab, Bihar Sharif.
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A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com,
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar, Sufi poet and
English-Arabic-Urdu-Hindi writer with a background in a leading Sufi Islamic
seminary in India. He is currently serving as Head of International Affairs at
Voice for Peace & Justice, Jammu & Kashmir.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism