Khairul Majalis : Highlighting the Virtues of Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli

Using the Khairul Majalis as a Historical Source

Foremost within the genre of the malfuzat literature is the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad, meaning ‘morals for the heart’, a selection of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s conversations recorded by one of his close disciples, the poet Amir Hassan Sijzi, between 1307 and 1322. With Nizamuddin’s successor, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli, the malfuzat tradition was elaborated further. His collection of malfuzat was entitled as Khairul Majalis, ‘The Best of the Assemblies’, and was compiled by Hamid Qalandar.

In Bruce Lawrence’s opinion, the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad and Khairul Majalis are barely comparable. ⁷ In style, Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad is pre-eminent among all malfuzat of medieval Indian Sufism. Khairul Majalis lacks the simple elegance and insights of the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad. Hamid Qalandar was not a poet of the calibre of Amir Hasan. ‘Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad’, writes Bruce Lawrence,

[R]epeatedly suggests didactic intention of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya. It seldom burdens the reader with superfluous details or exaggerated accounts. Nor do we feel Amir Hassan calling undue attention to his role in the Shaikh’s councils. He remains in the background rather than foreground of most conversations. ⁸

On the other hand, ‘Hamid Qalandar’, Bruce Lawrence noted, ‘was a Qalandar only in name and poet only in temperament. His scholarly ambitions are held in check by the literary and spiritual shortcomings: he was not a poet of the rank of Amir Hasan’. ⁹

Many other scholars also have doubts about his scholarly pretentions. Hamid has indicated that at times Chiragh-i-Dehli took pains to correct the manuscript of Khairul Majalis even in matters of Arabic vocabulary. Carl Ernst brings to our notice that other disciples of Chiragh-i-Dehli reported that when shown sections of Hamid’s compilation, the Shaikh remarked that they were inaccurate and threw them away, having no time to correct them. ¹⁰ Hamid himself admitted that at times he did not understand the Shaikh’s words but ‘if I don’t comprehend, let me write down what I do understand so that it is a memorial’. ¹¹

From the manner in which Shaikh Nasiruddin’s teachings are summarised in the Khairul Majalis and on the basis of the apparent shortcomings of its compiler, Paul Jackson has admitted to having ‘very serious reservations’ about the accuracy of this text as a record of the teachings of Chiragh-i-Dehli. ¹²

The editor of Khairul Majalis, Khaliq Ahmed Nizami, remarked that Hamid Qalandar ‘had no real and genuine aptitude for mysticism’. For his own part, Hamid confidently compared his own compilation to Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad and called Khairul Majalis his auspicious religious child that would bring him great reward. ¹³

We know that the memory of a shaikh is constructed by different types of texts—some of which are contemporary, others are distant in the past: the images constructed by different genres of literature, for instance, the malfuzat and the tazkirats were qualitatively very different. One must emphasise that all malfuzat, though they belong to one genre of literature, are not quite the same, and there are some obvious differences between the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad and Khairul Majalis. Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad attempted to capture the ‘orality’ of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s teachings, written in an interactive, conversational tone, and effectively tried to recreate the ambience of the majalis of the shaikh for the reader as well as the listener. Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad was the first malfuzat of a Chishti Sufi, where the authors Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Hasan Sijzimade make an effort to suggest authenticity of the malfuzat, a tradition that Khairul Majalis emulated. But because Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad was the first malfuzat, Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya also needed to enunciate the mystical qualities of the great shaikh of ‘a Chishti order’. As a result, some fundamental aspects of Chishti practices were enunciated. Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad laid down a paradigm of conduct apt for a Chishti Shaikh. It emphasised that a shaikh willingly chose the path of faqr (poverty), faqa (deprivation) and wanting to renounce duniya wa khalq (world and people), which resulted in an antipathy towards shughl and the state and all its institutions. The Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad projected the image that these Chishti practices were derived from the Prophet Muhammed, Imam Ali, great Mashaikh of the past and Nizamuddin’s own teacher (pir) Baba Farid. Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad, as a result, constructed the rudimentary tariqa that is carried on in continuity. An initiatic, preliminary lineage of the Chishti silsila was constructed. ¹⁴

The Khairul Majalis had to tap this legacy. This was further complicated by the fact that sometime around when the Khairul Majalis was being written, the Siyar-al-Auliya was also being transcribed. While Hamid Qalandar may not have read Amir Khwurd’s text, the composite image of the Chishti silsila must have already been extrapolated from Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s practice by the 1350’s. As a result, in the Khairul Majalis, Hamid Qalandar and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli had to tap into the paradigm of conduct constructed by the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad and suggest that he was a worthy ‘successor’ of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, one who followed his master’s ideals. To make a still powerful and rightful claim, it was pertinent to emphasise that Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh possessed special qualities of his own. This uniqueness had to be put forward as the exclusive characteristics of Shaikh Nasiruddin. As a result, along with the legacy, the special connection with Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, the uniqueness and exclusiveness of Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh needed to be imprinted in the mind of reader through his malfuzat, the Khairul Majalis.

However, serious limitations are implicit in the use of malfuzat as ‘historical sources’. No malfuzats, neither the Khairul Majalis nor the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad, can be read positivistically and can be solely relied upon. Works like Khairul Majalis become very important in the light of the fact that ‘objective’ biographies cannot, as a matter of principle, exist. We also lack ‘negative’ biographies by hostile rivals. ¹⁵ Instead, we are left to decipher the double-edged process through the eyes of those who were already committed to the Sufi shaikh and, second, an image of what we should have formed in our minds before recording this legacy for posterity. ¹⁶ The challenge to the historians of Sufism in India remains charting the interlinear message of the texts that have survived. Inevitably the shaikh reshapes, through these works, the way in which his followers think about all antecedent Mashaikh and perceive his unique barakat as his exclusive possession.

The malfuzat are not a compilation of random occurrences and anecdotes designed to impress or elicit awe. These works draw out the best traits of the people to hold them up as a model of piety and recipient of divine grace. They are constructions of tradition of piety, the evidence of believers of the shaikh himself and transmitted with the intention of gaining more adherents. At the very least, one can assert that the malfuzat genre of literature emphasised on both individual achievements and recurrent patterns of expected behaviour. The memory of what a shaikh should have been influenced the memory of what he was on the part of his followers. The two malfuzat, therefore, aimed to present their respective protagonists as possessors of great moral and pious virtues. The messages of their piety and exemplary austerity conveyed a message of how they had been able to attain a high spiritual status. In fact, one can say that at least one reason why Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya as well as Shaikh Nasiruddin became extremely popular was a result of the success with which these malfuzat portrayed the qualities of their protagonist Mashaikh.

Cardinal Principles of Pir-Murid Relationship: Affection, Obedience and Mutual Respect

In line with the centrality of the pir in tariqa Sufism, Nizamuddin Auliya had also emphasised the pivotal role of the Mashaikh as master, guide, spiritual mentor and the ultimate arbiter in the eyes of disciples. In the Khairul Majalis, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh evinced considerable sensitivity and gratefully acknowledged the formidable role played by his master in his own life. Hamid Qalandar did not fail to report the innumerable instances when Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh would burst into tears at the recollection of anecdotes from his master’s life.

It was very important, rather necessary, for Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh to convey to his followers that he possessed the blessings of a special relationship with his master—an exclusive bond with his master. Shaikh Nizamuddin had many disciples, and Nasiruddin had to establish the fact of his own unique relationship as a specially chosen disciple without any ambiguity so that his succession would be perceived as a logical conclusion and a barakat bestowed by his pir as his rightful earned and well-deserved reward.

The Khairul Majalis follows various strategies to report on this special Pir-murid relationship. Hamid Qalandar wanted to suggest that Shaikh Nasiruddin elicited an uncommonly affectionate response from his master. For example, on one occasion, the Khairul Majalis informs its readers and listeners that it was conveyed to Shaikh Nizamuddin that his favourite disciple Nasiruddin was not eating much. The paternal response of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya was extraordinary, and the pir reportedly was extremely anxious and personally ensured that Nasiruddin’s health was all right and that he ate far more than his usual normal diet. ¹⁷

Shaikh Nizamuddin’s special care and concern for Nasiruddin arose from more than just a personal affection. The Khairul Majalis attempts to suggest that this was also a result of the fact that he was a ‘perfect murid’—one who obeyed the instructions of the master without regard to his own personal inclinations.

Shaikh Nasiruddin talks of his pir Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s instructions for him to live among the masses. The pir instructed Nasiruddin ‘You Must remain in Dehli: and you must endure the oppression and neglect of men’. The shaikh declared that his great desire was tark-i-duniya (cessation of attachment to worldly desires/refrain from being possessed by worldly desires of fame and popularity) and its attractions, to live in a forest, or a secluded mosque, and get engrossed in the remembrance of God—the kind of routine he had followed earlier in his life. ¹⁸ Shaikh Nasiruddin clarified that it was as a mark of respect to his pir that he stayed in town; otherwise, his own piety and preference favoured a renunciation of worldly contacts. As a further attestation of his strong spiritual zest, the routine of his earlier days is put forward as a kind of attestation of his personal inclination. He also suggests the extent of his piety by ignoring his personal preferences and unhesitatingly accepting the command of his pir, as his desire was of supreme importance to Nasiruddin. Shaikh Nasiruddin presents an anecdote from the life of Hazrat Shahbuddin, where he laid down the expectations of a pir from his murid and the respect a murid should have for his pir. The shaikh also quotes from Kitab Tohfat Albarraha. Not only is Shaikh Nasiruddin in agreement with both Hazrat Shahbuddin and the scholarly work mentioned earlier but the entire information is put forward in such a manner that it attests to the behaviour of Shaikh Nasiruddin as a ‘model’ murid.

The abject obedience of the murid was akin to the great Sufi disciples of the past, and in that sense, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh abided by the paradigms of conduct demanded of the greatest Sufis in the past and expressed his respect for the traditions of the silsila. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, the Khairul Majalis categorically informs, had recognised these particular qualities in his disciple, and therefore distinguished him with his special affection.

The murid Nasiruddin Chiragh remained loyal to the memory of his master, and hence, even after his Pir’s death, respectfully performed the urs—the death anniversary celebrations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya. ¹⁹ The narrative strategy of the Khairul Majalis manages to conflate two distinct ideas in the recounting of this tale. First, Nasiruddin Chiragh was Shaikh Nizamuddin’s pre-eminent disciple and successor, and hence the responsibilities for the performance of these public celebrations were reposed in him. Second, the narrative also clarified that although the urs celebrations were not performed in the same opulent scale as those of past Mashaikh like Shaikh Saifuddin of Bukhara, this was not because of any loss of respect for Nizamuddin Auliya. ²⁰ Instead the thrust of Khairul Majalis’ narrative was that in the light of declining barakat, degenerated social values and public conduct in the middle of the fourteenth century, it was extra-ordinary that the Shaikh Nasiruddin performed these urs celebrations at all.

There was, of course, a third subterranean thought also linked in the narrative of the urs in the Khairul Majalis, and this concerned the performance of ritual. The ceremony of urs was an old traditional performance amongst Sufis celebrating the moment when the mystic becomes a ‘wife’ of God after his physical death. The author succeeds in drawing our attention to the fact that Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli continued to abide by the important traditional custom performed in the past by the great Sufis and continued the legacy of the silsila.

All of these were indications of the ‘obedience’ and veneration of Shaikh Nasiruddin, the ‘wonderful murid’, to the teachings of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and of the manner in which he imbibed the best example of the great Sufis in the past. Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh wanted his audience to recognise the special bond of affection and appreciation of his conduct that was preferred and recognised by his pir. It was important to emphasise this because it then allowed him to develop the third important element—mutual respect—that defined the special relationship between Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli.

The formulation upon which such a relationship had been constructed was unflinching ‘obedience’: that Nasiruddin Chiragh followed the instructions of his master. This had distinguished Nasiruddin Chiragh from the other disciples, but it was this aspect of his personality that quite ironically also led Nizamuddin Auliya to respect the mystical qualities in his murid. The Khairul Majalis seemed to suggest that, on occasion, Nasiruddin Chiragh’s piety excelled that of his master.

Consider the case of ritual and supererogatory prayer. For instance, in the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad, Nizamuddin Auliya spoke at length about its importance and its efficacy as a part of spiritual practice. A similar theme was also developed in the Khairul Majalis, but it was also explained here that namaaz-ba-jamaat, congregational prayer, had a special significance amongst all other forms of worship. The attention of the audience was also drawn to the fact that on one occasion, Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya actually lost his oratory skills because in the course of a haj (pilgrimage), he missed one namaaz-ba-jamaat (congregational prayer). ²¹ Since a shepherd performed congregational prayers regularly, he was not only blessed with Jannat (heaven) but was made a companion of Hazrat Junaidi, an extremely pious figure. ²² A person who did not have any other spiritual practice of attainments to his credit in his spiritual journey became worthy of Jannat (heaven) just by virtue of regularly performing panj-waqta, Namaaz-ba-jamaat (congregational prayer). The Khairul Majalis carries repeated references to Nasiruddin Chiragh’s adherence to congregational prayers. Shaikh Nasiruddin claims to have realised its great importance and followed it stringently even in the earlier days of his life along with his friends, particularly Mahmud Walid Muinuddin. The time they used to spend fruitfully in Zikr-i-haq (remembrance of God) and meditation in dense forest, performing namaaz-ba-jamaat (congregational prayers) was especially recounted. It was also called in this context that Nasiruddin had been appointed Imam. The statement that he was appointed Imam was important for establishing Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh’s pious qualifications: this was a spontaneous recognition by the congregation of Muslims that Nasiruddin deserved to be their leader in prayer.

The bond of Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli with Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya resided upon a complicated mixture of affection (which was almost paternal in nature) and recognition of Nasiruddin’s special qualities of obedience present in murid—a recognition which also led Nizamuddin Auliya to respect the extraordinary piety of his disciple as well. If Nasiruddin Chiragh respected and obeyed his pir, the master also displayed the special regard in which he held his student. The Khairul Majalis left its audience in no doubt about the special relationship that distinguished Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Shaikh Nasiruddin.

Thus, Shaikh Nasiruddin succeeds in projecting himself as a ‘perfect’ murid who has immense faith in his pir and firmly believes that nobody can take him to God except the pir, and who believes in both the physical and spiritual appearances jismani-wa-ruhani of the pir, ²³ and the love, care and affection Shaikh Nizamuddin bestowed upon Nasiruddin. ²⁴ Shaikh Nasiruddin’s emotional bond with his pir is further attested when he is talking of Hajji Nasiruddin as a great adherent of ritual and practices and that his difference in attitudes was actually approved of by his own pir Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya. Thus, the projection of Shaikh Nasiruddin as the ideal ‘murid’ is intact without skirmishes in spite of his variant outlook is engendered with the claim of his being a worthy successor of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya.

Succession and Choice of Nasiruddin-Chiragh-i-Dehli

When Hamid Qalandar first came into the assembly of Chiragh-i-Dehli, ²⁵ it happened to be the day when the latter was celebrating the death anniversary (urs) of his old Pir-bhai (disciples of the same Sufi master) Burhan-al-Din Garib—this would have taken place on 7 March 1354. Hamid Qalandar immediately introduced himself to Chiragh-i-Dehli and informed the shaikh that he had associated with Burhan-al-Din Gharib in Deogir and that he had, in fact, recorded the conversations of Burhan-al-Din Garib in a malfuzat containing 20 sessions. Hamid Qalandar further observed that Burhan-al-Din had great faith in Chiragh-i-Dehli, so Hamid, as an admirer of Burhan-al-Din, was especially eager to see ‘a man who was even greater’. Hamid continued ‘Lord! Maulana Burhan-al-Din was a darwesh who attainted union, but the revered master Chiragh-i-Dehli is an Abu Hanifa in learning and in asceticism and mastery, he is the Shaikh Nizamuddin of the age’. ²⁶

Thus, in the very first assembly, an attempt is made to establish the political supremacy of Chiragh-i-Dehli within the Chishti succession. Recognition of Shaikh Nasiruddin’s higher spiritual status by Burhan-al-Din Garib is also hinted at as the latter found solace in the words of Shaikh Nasiruddin. ²⁷

This quest for paramount position must have arisen because among Chiragh-i-Dehli’s followers, it was well known that Burhan-al-Din Garib was an older disciple of Shaikh Nizamuddin and that Chiragh-i-Dehli had often stayed with Burhan-al-Din when he came from Awadh to see Shaikh Nizamuddin in Delhi. The relationship between the two men, thus, became a matter of some concern. Thus, Hamid’s writing suggests a deliberate design to elevate Shaikh Nasiruddin to a central position in the Chishti order at the expense of Burhan-al-Din Gharib. ²⁸ Carl Ernst concluded that stressing the primacy of co-disciple over another was perhaps an inevitable result of the canonical focus on the authority of the Sufi master. ²⁹ And the malfuzat texts had begun to take on the canonical function of acting as normative texts that served as a vector for religious authority as well as individualistic piety. ³⁰

Faqr: A Criterion to Assess Piety

Another very important component of mystic ideology was the practice of faqr (poverty). The projection in the hagiological literature emphasised that wealth and the mumin, the believer, could not live together. Shaikh Nasiruddin also wanted to tap into this belief, and he therefore glorified his own practice of faqr, suggesting equations with past heroes by citing examples from the lives of the Prophet Mohamamd, Hazarat Abu Sayyid Khatti, Abu Sayyid Aktaa and Amir-Ul-Muminin. ³¹ Shaikh Nasiruddin described the poverty-stricken conditions of Prophet Mohammad too, and his natural choice for the path of faqr. Then Shaikh related a number of related hadis and elaborated the meaning saying that ‘those who possess wealth are not free of worries and those who are poor are also worried but at least their worries take one closer to God’. This elaboration is followed by the suggestion that his own, natural choice would have been to wear a kurta and tehband and to get engrossed in Zikr-i-Haq (remembrance of God) at some mosque or dargah.

Now a context has been built up in advance where faqr has been not just highly venerated but seen as a yardstick to measure a Shaikh’s piety. The Khairul Majalis reports Shaikh Nasiruddin’s conversations where the pir talks of his earlier days when he stringently practiced faqr and thus acclaimed piety. He narrated to the audience that once he had kept a fast for two days and two days past he did not get anything to eat. The shaikh lovingly recollected that he had an acquaintance named Nathu who brought two rotis and some subzi. It was in that condition of blissful starvation that, the Khairul Majalis reported, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh enjoyed the simple meal enormously. ³² According to Hamid Qalandar’s observation, the derivation of such a divine satisfaction from a simple repast was still evident on the Shaikh’s face.

Shaikh Nasiruddin further elaborated in his discourses that often no lamp was lit in his house for days in succession–the chulah was not lighted. ³³ Along with the description of poverty-stricken conditions, Hamid Qalandar did not forget to mention the affluent conditions of Nasiruddin Chiragh’s relatives and that they could support him, but they all realised the shaikh had willingly chosen the path of Allah along with the practice of faqr and that he enjoyed his faqr immensely. This reference to poverty and self-abnegation also carries interesting and complicated statements regarding the class affiliations. It is significant that all those who discuss detachment, asceticism and poverty in Khairul Majalis also possessed the latent possibility of being engaged in the mechanisms of social power. By contrast, the truly poor could actually never become ‘enriched’ as the ‘spiritually poor’ in their claim for divine mercy; they inspire only pity, not awe. The contrary picture of spiritual power emanating from voluntarily achieved spiritual poverty were regarded as more powerful by the authors of the Khairul Majalis, who noticed that the shaikh was always moved to tears during his conversations about faqr in consonance with the complicated reversal of class affiliation abided to earlier. Such emotional outbursts of the shaikh were not evidence of his mortification originating from his impoverished status; they were evidence of his rupture at the ‘riches’ received by the surrendering of all material ties and the possible proximity to God.

Eating less is repeatedly emphasised by Sufi Mashaikh as an important exercise to control the needs and desires of their lowly self (nafs). Shaikh Nasiruddin’s ideological stance is developed by Qalandar in a structured manner. He starts the discourse by narrating the eating habits appropriate to darwesh, ³⁴ conveying subsequently that the prophet Mohammad at times did not have anything to eat for as many as 5–7 days (the number of days varies in different hadis) and that he ate dates only after a long time. ³⁵ The real statement in this discourse is only gradually elaborated. Hamid Qalandar ultimately clarified that Nasiruddin’s food was actually Zikr-i-Haq or—the remembrance of the God. ³⁶

It is interesting to note that as an illustration of all the virtues possessed by Shaikh Nasiruddin, examples are often provided from the youthful days of his life. In fact, the shaikh does not hesitate to sometimes draw a parallel between himself and Prophet Mohammad. ³⁷ Qalandar seems to want to clarify that some of Nasiruddin Chiragh’s prophet-like virtues were ingrained in his personality and were displayed before his formal initiation into the Sufi path. These virtues also elevated him until Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya himself was moved to declare him as his special murid, but it also distanced Nasiruddin Chiragh from his congregation of followers. It was important for Hamid Qalandar to suggest that his pir possessed qualities quite distinct from himself. The author had no reservations in acknowledging that Nasiruddin Chiragh applauded his ability to keep fast for days in continuation in contrast to Hamid Qalandar himself. ³⁸

This notice derives importance from the fact that the Chishti Mashaikh considered fasting to be a ‘remarkable expedient for weakening desires that lead never to happiness but either to disillusionment or to further desire’. ³⁹ Shaikh Nasiruddin has already claimed that he obtained his diet from Zikr-i-haq (remembrance of God), but he elaborated the thought further and added that for the rest of the audience, eating less was merely the ‘ibaadat’ (prayer). The combined message that is left with the audience is his stringent adherence to the great Chishti ideal of eating less, and that too from the earliest days of his life. He also makes a claim of being much more self-restrained and having obtained his diet from Zikr-i-haq, whereas for the audience, eating less is the form of ‘ibaadat’ as they are not capable of more than this. The great contrast between him and the audience in their respective capacities to practice a lifestyle where they suffered in order to make themselves worthier to be closer to God. Nasiruddin Chiragh clearly outlined the ordinary mortals in this ‘spiritual athleticism’ and could, hence legitimately claim their respect and veneration.

In the off chance that a section of the audience might think that the kind of life he was leading did not go with his acclaimed choice of abandoning worldly contacts and the practice of faqr, the shaikh narrated an anecdote from the life of Abu Sayyid. A darwesh once visited Shaikh Abu Sayyid and seeing the comfortable conditions at his khanqah thought, ‘what kind of faqr is this’. In response to this, Sayyid Abu recited Quranic verse that meant that the world was just like your shadow—if you looked towards it and was attracted it moved away; when you turned your back to it, it came closer. Shaikh Nasiruddin also commented that if duniya (world) would have been an object of attraction, then the Prophet would have accepted it. He then recited a hadis elaborating on the futility of getting attracted towards the world. ⁴⁰

In this manner, Shaikh Nasiruddin and Hamid Qalandar succeeded in justifying the flow of futuhat (unsolicited charity) and comfortable conditions at the khanqah of the pir. The comparison with Shaikh Abu Sayyid, an extremely pious character, enabled him to argue that the simple possession of worldly luxuries did not entrap or attract the shaikh. Yet, at the same time there was an unwritten recognition of the Shaikh’s immense following and popularity and the great flow of futuhat into his hospice.

Karamat (Power to Perform Miracles) and God’s Blessings

The study of Chishti sources reflects the working of miracles together with a careful avoidance of the vulgar display of them. The Chishti Mashaikh acclaimed that miracle mongering had no place in the spiritual discipline of Sufis. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya considered the performance of miracles as a sign of spiritual imperfection. ‘They have divided the Path’, he once remarked, ‘into a hundred stages, of which the capacity for displaying miracles is the seventeenth; if a mystic is stopped at this stage, how will he cross the remaining eighty-three (83) stages’. ⁴¹

In sharp contradictions to claims like this in Sufi hagiographical literature, the miraculous power is almost synonymous and is a great representation of a Sufi’s piety. How can we pass over in silence frequent mentions of the appearances of supernatural beings and narratives of the exercise of supernatural powers? In Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad, we find a succession of anecdotes of a preacher in a mosque who was so transported by his own eloquence that he flew away from the pulpit (mimbar) to a neighbouring wall. This story is repeated in Khairul Majalis and of various ‘fairy-people’ of the abdals and of mardan-i-ghaib, ‘men of the unseen’ who appear and disappear and sometimes call away a mortal to join them. There are also recorded instances when the display of Jalal ‘splendor’, in reality the ‘wrath’, led to discomfiture, misery and often the death of those who pressured to oppose the Mashaikh. ⁴²

The belief in the truthfulness of dreams is also projected as a manifestation of their supernatural powers, and instances from the lives of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Shaikh Abu ul Ghais Yamani were narrated. The context in which these illustrations are cited is that a darwesh came and said that he had dreamt that Shaikh Nasiruddin not only presented his own cloak nut in fact helped the darwesh wearing it with his own holy hands. ⁴³

A strong and often crude belief in the miraculous power pervaded amongst all sections of society, including the learned, and the powerful karamat (graces, in fact miracles) were proofs to the devotees of a Sufi shaikh that he had attained to status that they attributed to him. The Shaikh’s interventions in the ordinary course of nature (kharq-i-adat) extended from the trifling affairs of individuals to whom they supplied amulets, to an influence over major political events. In the opinion of their followers, they held powers for the making and un-making of kings and kingdoms. ⁴⁴

In the light of these anecdotes, it would be absurd to claim that Shaikh Nasiruddin did not believe in karamat (miracles). Yet, although many miracles are recounted about the other Shaikh, none are performed or claimed by Shaikh Nasiruddin in the Khairul Majalis. The treatment of miraculous power inherent in the Mashaikh, but not practiced by Shaikh Nasiruddin himself, is unique to the Khairul Majalis. According to Hamid Qalandar’s narrative, Shaikh Nasiruddin did not follow the ‘model’ prescribed for great Mashaikh when it came to question of performance of karamat. Yet, both the authors’ discourse was able to make this exceptional practice into a virtue. The Khairul Majalis left the impression that the shaikh was more than capable of performing karamat, but he restrained himself to avoid the vulgar display of divine grace. Other than an evidence of his own superior spiritual merits this quality was also confirmed to the extent to which the Shaikh Nasiruddin followed the instructions of his master.

Moral Virtue and Public Re-known

In spite of the often-expressed desire by the Chishti Mashaikh for solitude, the prestige of a great shaikh depended on an unremitting attention to the spiritual needs, hopes and aspirations of devotees of every social class and occupation. If the shaikh adequately fulfilled these functions, he was held by his followers to be the principal heir of the barakat of his predecessor.

According to the Khairul Majalis, Shaikh Nasiruddin fulfilled these expectations. Shaikh Nasiruddin often repeated that he was living in the town in compliance with his Pir’s wishes, yet he succeeded in also getting across the message that he was fond of people and was genuinely concerned about them despite his natural inclination to solitude. The shaikh talks of his busy schedule and thus he could not get enough time for Zikr, fiqr or even qailula (afternoon nap). ⁴⁵ So the Khairul Majalis message was that an intense regimen involving nightly solitude in prayers and day praying for the needs of others did not prevent or preclude the Shaikh’s observance of the ritual duties obligatory on him as a Muslim.

Delicacy of moral feelings, extended sympathy with suffering humanity and overflowing sensibility (dard) had been often emphasised as a behavioural virtue of the great Chishti Mashaikh of the Delhi Sultanate. Shaikh Nasiruddin also claimed to be a possessor of these virtues, both in words and in actions. Shaikh Nasiruddin expressed his agreement with Shaikh Nizamuddin and quoted him to confirm that he too suffered greatly from depressions because the troubles of people pricked deep in his heart. ⁴⁶ Shaikh Nasiruddin’s love for the poor and desolate was not limited only to words but also coupled with actions. The shaikh presented cash in charity to a blind and a limping devotee. Perhaps most crucially, the Khairul Majalis was careful to point out that Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh encouraged and infused verve and zest into the desolate lives of the poor and the sick. ⁴⁷

Shaikh Nasiruddin further elaborated that darweshes gave up living in towns and moved to hills and forests to seek solitude rather than being with masses. ⁴⁸ The shaikh was quoted as saying that by living among the masses, the darweshes did not get anything except pain and agony. In spite of rejection and disloyalty one would get by living in the city, Shaikh Nasiruddin chose the latter because he was not an ‘escapist’ like many other darweshes.

The Khairul Majalis took care to mention the great number of visitors who arrived at Nasiruddin’s hospice, an indication of his immense popularity and the veneration enjoyed by him. ⁴⁹ His Khanqah was always flooded by visitors of all kinds and classes–the rich together with the faqirs, the ulema together with the Sufis. The Khairul Majalis developed Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh’s special attributes in discovering the well-being of the visitors despite his reticence to expose his actual condition. ⁵⁰ The Shaikh’s power to read his disciples’ heart was depicted as an indication of his divine grace. The shaikh claimed to possess a remarkable quality of treating all visitors—though they belonged to diverse social and economic backgrounds, and religious and educational inclinations—very respectfully and with humbleness. ⁵¹ Shaikh Nasiruddin draws a very subtle parallel between himself and Shaikh Abdullah Ansari. ⁵² Shaikh Nasiruddin also drew a parallel between Shaikh Nizamuddin and himself in the same context of receiving every visitor appropriately. ⁵³ Drawing a parallel between Abdullah Ansari, a great pious figure and the one who was actually capable of performing a miracle even after his death, and oneself was very effective narrative technique. The powerful message that was conveyed was that just like Ansari, Shaikh Nasiruddin also received all the visitors very respectfully and appropriately.

In these aspects, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh also claimed a similarity with Prophet Mohammad. Shaikh Nasiruddin narrated an anecdote of a ‘But-parast’ (idol-worshipper) who after praying the idol for 400 years suddenly became dissatisfied and approached Allah. The man received an extremely humane and loving response from Allah. ⁵⁴ The interesting aspect about this assembly was the context provided by an anecdote where a man appeared to express his gratefulness for Shaikh Nasiruddin’s help due to which he was able to achieve his goal. In the anecdote, Shaikh Nasiruddin underlined the humane, forgiving and loving aspects of Allah, and made an indirect claim of abiding by the conduct normally associated with Allah.

The Khairul Majalis projected Shaikh Nasiruddin’s popularity and fame among the masses, and his divine virtue of love, affection, patience and forbearance. But the Khairul Majalis also clarified that this worldly fame, popularity and even veneration of devotees was not attractive enough to allure him and distract him from the ‘true path’, which might have ordinarily necessitated solitude. Shaikh Nasiruddin applauded Baba Farid for his simplicity, avoidance of parties, public gatherings and deep desire for solitude that made him finally settle in Ajodhan. ⁵⁵ Shaikh Nasiruddin declared Baba Farid to be more pious than Badruddin Ghaznavi, who was one of the khalifas of Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and an individual attracted to worldly popularity. According to the Khairul Majalis, the difference between the two Sufis was one between the Earth and the Sky. ⁵⁶

Once Baba Farid’s higher spiritual piety was established, it also speaks of Shaikh Nasiruddin’s likings for simplicity and austerity and attached piety for refusing the invitation to parties and preferring to be in the attendance and service to his pir. ⁵⁷ This remark preceded another conversation where Shaikh Nasiruddin has elaborated on a hadis at length, where it was explained that if the world have been an object of worthy of an attraction, then the Prophet would have accepted it. This served to confirm Shaikh Nasiruddin’s general dicta concerning the futility of becoming attracted to the material world and thus made a strong imprint on the mind of the reader of the spiritual being and piety of Shaikh Nasiruddin.

Conclusion

By 1325, and Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s death, the rudimentary form of the Chishtitariqa and silsila has already been clarified in the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad. By the 1350s and the completion of the Khairul Majalis and Sufi tazkirat, a grand expectation of the qualities possessed by a Chishti Sufi were clearly enunciated.

The agenda of the Khairul Majalis was as a result fairly complicated. On the other hand, it had to emulate the narrative style of his predecessor, Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad, and re-establish, beyond doubt, Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh’s rights to inherit the mantle of spiritual leadership of the Chishti’s in North India. As a result, the Khairul Majalis had to first convey the spiritual merit of Shaikh Nasiruddin in a narrative form akin to the Fawai’d-al-Fu’ad. The anecdotal style had to be duplicated as far as possible and the references to the Qur’an, the Prophet and past preceptors had to be emulated. On the other hand, the simple narration of the pietistic qualities of Shaikh Nasiruddin was no longer sufficient since Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya possessed several other disciples of nearly equal merit. As a result, the Khairul Majalis had to stretch itself and suggest that Nasiruddin Chiragh did not merrily emulate the practice of his Pir; he was in some ways the only one to have a special relationship, and hence be unique and worthy of being recognised as the spiritual successor of his master.

We might say that Hamid Qalandar and Shaikh Nasiruddin were actually a great deal more ambitious. Through the Khairul Majalis they also wanted to impress their audience that Shaikh Nasiruddin was not merely a worthy successor of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya but was a favourite disciple of his master. They also wanted to emphasise that many of the Shaikh Nasiruddin’s spiritual qualities were innate to his personality. In other words, Nasiruddin’s great piety derived not just from his close association with Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya but, since they were a part of his personal character, that he had already displayed many of these virtues before his close association with his master.

This depiction also allowed Hamid Qalandar the opportunity to argue that Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh was in many ways superior even to Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya. The Khairul Majalis handled this subject very delicately and suggested that on many occasions, Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya had himself noticed how Nasiruddin excelled in the required Chishti practices. As a result, it was not so much a case of competition within the Chishti silsila as it was recognition of a constellation of virtues demanded of Chishti Mashaikh—some possessed them in greater measure than others and Nasiruddin was par excellence than his pir-bhais and thus a natural and worthy choice of being a successor.

The impression that the Khairul Majalis served to create, therefore, was one of great mystical attainments by Nasiruddin. Some of these were the consequences of a careful and meticulous training imparted by Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, and the capacity of Nasiruddin to be a murid without any parallel. Others were a result of his own personality, which even Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya had to recognise was unique for his age. As a result, in the years after Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya‘s death, Nasiruddin Chiragh took the place occupied by his master and, as the Khairul Majalis put it, became the sultan of Mashaikh, Sultan-al-Mashaikh.

It is perhaps important to draw attention once again to the didactic, discursive nature of the Khairul Majalis and the malfuzat genre as a whole. These texts represented the conversations of the Shaikh, and some like the Khairul Majalis, claimed a degree of ‘authenticity’ because these works were fortunate enough to be corrected by their respective protagonists—in this case by Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh himself. But the selectivity with which certain conversations were chosen, rearranged within a textual medium, and the manner in which certain themes were highlighted throughout the text suggests a deliberate attempt to educate an audience not just in the elements of the mystical path but also about the virtues of the Shaikh. Without a Shaikh, a novice could not in fact be initiated into mysticism, and in this context the merits of the incumbent spiritual master needed to be widely popularised. Malfuzat texts like the Khairul Majalis served exactly this purpose.

The need to construct an impressive personality of the protagonist was also acutely felt in the presence of competing Mashaikh. This is more than amply brought out by the narrative of the Khairul Majalis.