Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani: Embodiment Of Generosity, Spiritual Wisdom, And Divine Insight
By Sahil Razvi, New Age Islam
10 November 2025
Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani embodied generosity, spiritual wisdom, and divine insight. His prayers changed destinies, his teachings illuminated hearts, and his humility made him one of the most revered Sufi figures of his era.
Main Points:
1. Born into a royal family, Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani renounced worldly pride and became a symbol of divine closeness and humility.
2. His prayers were believed to bless the childless with children and the poor with prosperity.
3. His marriage, foretold through divine signs, produced a son celebrated for scholarship and Quranic mastery.
4. He emphasized fighting one’s nafs and surrendering completely to God’s will to attain spiritual elevation.
5. For him, true faith meant detachment from material desires, silence, and wishing for others what one desires for oneself.
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Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani belonged to a royal family, yet he became one of the most revered and noble saints of his time. Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani is believed to have been born sometime between 1230 and 1350. Among his well-known writings, Mishkatul-Huma is regarded as an exceptional work. Besides this, he was spiritually connected with great saints such as Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani.
When Hazrat Shuja Kirmani arrived in Neemapur, Hazrat Makhdoom-e-Jahan remarked, “Even though I am present here, if Hazrat Shuja Kirmani stays, my prayers will lose their effect, for his generosity is beyond measure.” Hazrat Shuja Kirmani was known for his deep closeness to the Divine. It was said that those who were childless would have children by his prayer, and the poor who came to him would attain wealth and honour.
Once, while he was in Neemapur, a young man who earned his living by singing came to him. After listening to his songs, Hazrat said, “Abandon this work and repent to Allah.” The young man replied, “How can I leave this livelihood?” Hazrat reassured him, “Allah will provide for you.”
A few days later, while travelling, the young man passed by a nobleman’s wife who was sitting in her palanquin. As she heard his melodious voice, she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she said, “I wish to marry the one whose voice I heard.” The nobleman, in anger, turned her out of the house. But she insisted and said, “I will marry no one but him.” Finally, the nobleman was compelled to agree, and their marriage took place.
The young man later returned to Neemapur and came before Hazrat Shuja Kirmani. He said, “By your blessings, I have received both wealth and respect.”
At one time, Hazrat Shuja Kirmani sent a marriage proposal to the daughter of a saint. The saint requested three days to reflect and spent those days in deep meditation. During this period, he circled his house repeatedly, praying that no one else might interfere in the divine decision. On the third day, a saint named Khwaja Sharif Niyaz Neemapuri, after offering prayers, said, “If your daughter’s marriage takes place with Hazrat Shuja Kirmani, the child born will be blessed with great qualities.”
Hazrat Shuja Kirmani humbly said, “I am a poor man; who would marry his daughter to me?” The saint replied, “If my daughter marries you, the child born will be known across the world for knowledge and virtue.” The marriage took place, and later a son was born who became a great scholar and Hafiz-e-Quran.
One day someone asked Hazrat Shuja Kirmani, “Why did you spend three days in meditation before the marriage?” He replied, “I had received a sign from Allah that from this marriage a child would be born who would be famous for knowledge and divine grace.” It is narrated that he told Shah Kirmani, “I entered this marriage by Allah’s command.” The child born from this union was considered a symbol of divine mercy and compassion.
Once, while Hazrat Shuja Kirmani was travelling towards Soher, he met a man walking with his wife. The woman asked her husband, “Who is this person?” The man replied, “He is Hazrat Shah Shuja Kirmani, whose prayers brought me prosperity.” The woman expressed her wish to meet Hazrat. When she was brought before him, she said, “Through your blessings we became rich, but now we have no children. Please pray for us.” Hazrat prayed for her and said, “Allah will bless you with a child.” A few months later, she gave birth to a boy who grew up to become a learned scholar and a man of great virtue.
Hazrat Abu Husain once wrote to Hazrat Shuja Kirmani saying, “When I look at my actions and sins, I fall into despair.” Hazrat replied, “If you have truly decided to follow the path of the Beloved, then you must struggle against your own self (nafs). Without such struggle, there can be no hope of divine nearness. When you sincerely repent, God’s unity will illuminate your heart and despair will leave you. As long as you remain absorbed in your own existence, you cannot truly remember God, and as long as you remain conscious of yourself, the divine gaze will not rest upon you.”
Hazrat also said, “When I went to Junaid, we both stayed in the same city. Hazrat Abu Husain, after fulfilling his duty, disappeared from sight. One day, when I visited him, I found his mood low. I asked, ‘Sir, why do you seem unwell today?’ He replied, ‘If you place your elbow next to mine, you will see me sitting at Junaid’s shrine.’” Hazrat Shuja Kirmani remarked, “This spiritual state is not common. If I were to bring you into this state, your will would merge with mine.” Therefore, he chose not to make him share that state.
Hazrat Shuja Kirmani often said that fulfilling the obligatory prayers and duties is essential, and performing voluntary prayers or good deeds is meaningful only when the obligatory duties are completed. Until a person dissolves his own will in the will of God, divine pleasure cannot be attained. The one who neglects his obligatory duties gains no benefit from voluntary acts, and the one who abandons voluntary acts loses the perfection of his obligatory duties. Whoever fails to obey the divine command distances himself from the pleasure of Allah.
He also said that the signs of true sincerity are three: detachment from worldly desires, remaining apart from worldly companionship, and maintaining silence. He often said, “The one who truly knows Allah gains courage and contentment. The greatest virtue is that a person should wish for others what he wishes for himself.
” He said, “Whoever guards his eyes from the forbidden, Allah enlightens his heart with divine light; and whoever protects his stomach from unlawful food, Allah fills his heart with wisdom.” He also said, “A person who feels no sorrow, whose heart never softens, becomes spiritually hardened.”
Khwaja Ali Sirjani used to distribute bread in front of the shrine of Hazrat Shah Shuja.
One day, after placing food before him, he prayed, “O Allah! Send me one of your guests so that I may share this meal with him.”
Suddenly, a dog appeared from the mosque’s doorway. Khwaja Ali scolded it and drove it away. At that moment, a voice came from the shrine: “Ali! I sent a guest for you, but you turned him away.”
Hearing this, Khwaja Ali stood up and searched through every street in the city, but he could not find the dog anywhere. Finally, when he reached the desert, he saw the same dog sleeping under the shade of a tree. He gently woke it up and placed the food he had brought before it, but the dog paid no attention.
Khwaja Ali felt deeply ashamed for what he had done. He repented for his sin and removed his turban, placing it at the dog’s feet. Then, the dog spoke through the “language of the heart,” saying, “Excellent, Khwaja! You were in need of a guest, had you looked with the eyes of insight, you would have found one.” Saying this, the dog began to eat all the food placed before him.
Hazrat Shah Shuja passed away in the year 270 Hijri.
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A regular contributor to New Age Islam, Sahil Razvi is a research scholar specialising in Sufism and Islamic History. He is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia.
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