Hazrat
Da'ta Ganjbakhsh was born in 5th A.H. in Hajvir which is
now in Afghanistan. He was a great Persian Sufi scholar, writer and
poet. He significantly contributed to the spread of Islam in South
Asia.
He
was a Hasani and Husayni Sayyid. After the Massacre at Karbala by
Yazid (l.a.), his forefathers migrated to the Ghazni which is the
modern day Afghanistan.
After
completing his basic education, he traveled extensively for forty
years to acquire knowledge and pay homage to saints. He visited
Persia, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Tabaristan, Kerman, Khorasan, and Syria
among other cities.
He
had compiled a book in Persian called “Kashf-al-Mahjoob”; it
means “Revelation of Mystery”It is held in high esteem as the
first important treatise on Sufism. The book was translated in other
languages. A.R.Nicholson had translated it into English.
He
was ordered by his spiritual leader to go to Lahore, Pakistan, and
preach Islam. He migrated to Lahore and settled there for the rest of his
life. He had constructed a monastery and a mosque. While the
mosque was under construction, the ulemas of the city raised huge
cries that the mosque was not exactly facing towards “Ka'ba”.
When the mosque was completed, he invited the ulama, Sufis, saints
and leading citizens and they all came and offered prayer behind him.
After the prayer, he addressed the gathering and said, “People have
expressed doubts about the alignment of the mosque. I request you to
close your eyes and meditate and then decide whether it is correct or
not.” Thereafter he meditated and the curtains were removed from
the eyes of the people. All of them saw that the sacred Ka'ba was
before their eyes and the mosque direction was correctly aligned.
Hazrat
Da'ta Ganjbakhsh passed away on Rabi-al-Awwal 20, 465 A.H. and was
buried in the same facility where he lived in Lahore.
The
great saint of Ajmer, India, Khwaja Moin-ad-Din Chishty (r.a.)
visited his grave side and meditated for 40 days at the altar of his
grave. He expressed his love and gratitude in the following couplets:
Ganj
Bakhsh-e-Faiz-e-Alam, Mazhar-e-Nur-e-Khuda
Na'qissan
Ra Pir-e-Kamil, Kaamilaan Ra Rahnuma
The
giver of bounties, the benefactor of the world, (and) manifestation
of the light of God
To the imperfect, a perfect spiritual guide, and to the perfect, a
guide.
In
his book, Kash-al-Mahjoob”, he says, “One who knows the meaning
and reality of a thing, they call him Arif', and the one who knows
merely the verbal expression and keeps it in his memory without
keeping the spiritual reality, they call him 'Alim'”
Sayings
of Hazrat Da'ta Ganj Bakhsh (r.a.):
Out
of 112 sayings as stated in the article, some of them are reproduced
here under:
Implore
God to deliver you from the wickedness of your soul.
Whosoever
refrains his soul from lust, verily Paradise shall be his abode.
Knowledge
without action is no knowledge.
It
is the inward glow that makes the Sufi, not the religious dress.
Our
religion takes the middle course between the free will and the
predestination.
Whoever
bows his head with humility, like servant, God will exalt his state
in both the worlds.
Lust
is our shackle, and sin is our chain.
Men
are ever looking to the Ka'ba, and God is ever looking to the heart.
When
a man is satisfied with the God's decrees, it is a sign that God is
satisfied with him.
Hunger
sharpens the intelligence and improves the mind and health.
The
fruit of hunger is the contemplation of God.
Sources
used: WIKIPEDIA, Ali Hujwiri (Data GanjBakhsh).Sufiwiki,
Madni.org/data
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