TH Darimi

Four jewels in Chishthy order -3

Shaykh khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R)



Shaykh khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) was a Sufi saint lived in the 13th century. He was nephew successor to Shaykh Baba Fareed(R) and the first Shaykh in the Sabiriya branch of the Chishti Order.

Shaykh khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) was a Sufi of Great Stature and is revered by both Hindus and Muslims. The place where he is taking rest is Kaliyar, in Roorkee town of Uttarakhand India. He was born on the 17th Shahban 512 Hijra in between the two evening prayers Maghrib and Isha. The father of Shaykh khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) was Hazrat Abdul Raheem Abdul Salam Shah‎ and the grandfather was Syed Abdul Wahab‎ (R) the son of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani(R). His father died after few years of his birth. Then Hazrat Sabir’s mother carried him to her brother, Baba Fareed, in Pak Pattan Sharif. There he pledged discipleship on the hands of Baba Fareed(R). khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) was the nephew, disciple (Mureed), son-in-law and successor (Khalifa) of Hazrat Baba Fareeduddeen Ganje Shakar‎(R).



In eleven years he acquired and completed all the worldly and spiritual knowledge from Baba Fareed (R) and started teaching later. His followers are also called Sabri. His Urs is celebrated by millions of people every year in Kaliyar.



The story of his marriage is very interesting. After a long time his mother came from Harat and requested her brother to marry his daughter to her son. Baba Fareed(R) replied, 'He has nothing to do with marriage. He is lost in meditation'. The sister said. 'This is an excuse since he is an orphan, you decline the request.” Baba Fareed(R), upon this, married away his daughter, Khadija to him. During the night when the bride entered the room, she found him lost in prayers. When finished, he asked who she was. She replied, 'your wife!' khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) said. 'How can he accommodate two in my heart? I have already it to one.' As he uttered the words a fire burned the bride to ashes.



Shaykh Baba Fareed‎(R) entrusted him the duty of distribution of food (Langar). He accepted this duty happily and in between engaged himself in prayers. He dispensed with his duties well and also attended the discourse of Baba Freed Ganje Shakar‎(R). He did not take a single morsel from food (Langer), kept fasts and went to the jungle and ate wild berries and leaves. He did his duties for 12 years. He prayed continuously and his abstentions were never disrupted. Frequent and continuous fasting and eating leaves and wild food made him weak. When his mother came back again and saw him, she complained to his brother (Baba Fareed) of his weakness. Baba Fareed‎(R) called upon him and asked the reason. He replied 'You ordered me to distribute the food and not to partake from it'. Baba Fareed‎(R) embraced him happily and remarked 'He is SABIR (Patient)'. From that day and forth He became famous with the name of “SABIR”.



khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) spent many years of his life with Baba Fareed‎(R) and got religious and spiritual aspiration from him. Then Baba Fareed Ganje Shakar‎ (R) appointed him as Khalifa(Successor) and sent him to Kaliyar (a place situated in the state of Uttarakhand). At that time the King was Alauddeen Khilji. Shaykh Sabir Pak reached Kaliyar in 1253 A D. At Kaliyar, he stayed in the house of an old woman called Gulzadi. Soon his fame spread all over Kaliyar. Sabir started preaching the natives of Kaliyar about God and religion. He prayed day and night and had so much aura around him that people from far and near came to see him. The Qazi of Kaliyar Sharif, Tabrak, became so jealous that he began to evoke people against him. Tabrak even spoke ill about Shaykh Sabir to Village leader of Kaliyar. He was a rich and influential man. The leader decided to resolve this matter with Shaykh Sabir on a Thursday evening. He was source of many Miracles. Aknowledging that he take stand for the Shaykh and against Tabrak. The order he formulated is known as 'Chisty Swabiri Order' by his reference and relation.



He was a good poet; wrote under poetic name ‘Sabir’. In the state of extreme absorption he composed profound couplets on divine subjects which his disciple Shamsuddin Turk learnt by heart. Later, he edited the verses into a Persian works. He spent a larger period of his life in awesome ness but the presence of Shamsuddin Turk mellowed him considerably. Later, he preached and attracted people towards Islam. His influence was not only confined to the territory of Kalahari but people from far and near approached him for guidance.



Most of the time Sufi Saints who teaches there disciple the lesson and the meaning of Fana and Ba’qa the story or the example comes from the clear incident of Shaykh Sabir (R). The story or the example of Fana (Extinction, Annihilation) and Ba’qa (Eternal life in union with Allah) is explained with example of Shaykh Sabir (R) because of his death incident. Before he died he commanded his disciples that when he dies no one should touch his body. No one will give burial bath and no one will bury him, but they (disciples) should wait until a man will come riding on horse in white color clothes and he shall give bath to his body, before that no one should touch the body least they shall die. On his funeral day, it happened in the same way he commanded the disciples remains questioned who is that person who will give him a burial bath etc. thinking they did not do anything.



After an hour from death the people there heard a sound of horse coming and within few minutes they saw there was a person in white clothing and he was on horse. The horse man came down and took the dead body of Shaykh Sabir(R) and went inside a cottage and took some water and gave him the burial bath, everyone was shocked and puzzled who is he and what is going on inside the cottage. After a while he alone brings the dead body out and started making rows for offering his burial prayer and after reciting the prayer he then buried his dead body and was ready to leave. At that moment of Sabir’s disciple stopped him and asked, 'Who are you oh lucky person, who gave bath to our master, please show us your face', but that horse man doesn’t agree on showing his face, remaining adamant about it they asked again. So the horse man removes his curtain over the face and the congregation saw, it was none other but Shaykh Sabir (R) himself. They asked: 'Hazrat what is this', he replied and taught them the meaning of the question Fana and Ba’qa, that what you just saw the body that’s (Fana) it has to be layer with soil again and it shall perish, but this what you see now is (Ba’qa) never perishing in the spirit, spirit that Allah gave me which came from heaven. Saying this he disappeared. So this was the answer to the question that one of his disciples asked him one day what is the meaning of Fana and Ba’qa. So he fulfilled it and showed them the meaning on his funeral.



khaja Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir(R) passed away on 16 March 1291 at age of 95. His Dargah is at kaliyar. His tomb is also known as 'Piran-e-Kaliyar Sharif'. Piran Kaliyar Sharif is situated at Kaliyar village, near Haridwar on the banks of Ganga Canal, 7 km. from Roorkee. The dagah is around 60 km from Jolly Grant Airport, Rishikesh Road. The nearest City is Roorkee, Bus Stop is Saidpura, Airport is Jolly Grant Airport, Rishikesh Road, Dehradun, and Railway Station is also Roorkee station.