Life sketch of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia

 Hazrat Nizamudddin Aulia, the sultan of Saints, the beloved of God, was one of the greatest sufi saints of medieval India, and since his death 1325, the Dargah Sharif of sacred shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia continues to attract devoted pilgrims from all pans of the world.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia was born in Badaun in 1238, the only son of Khwaja Ahmad Bukhari and Bibi Zulaykha both of whose parents had migrated to India from Bukhara, feeling the Mangol invasions which had devastated Central Asia, Hazrat Nizamuddin’s father served as judge of Badaun but died when his son was only five years old, leaving the family vertyally penniless, Although Hazrat Nizamuddin seemed to draw spiritual strength from these difficult childhood experiences. Whenever there would be no food in the House. Bibi Zulaykha would say to Hazrat Nizamuddin and his siseter “Today we are the guests of God” If food happened to be available for several days, the young boy would gently ask his mother, “ When will we again be the guests of God ?”

Some how Bibi Zulaykha managed to educate her son, and Hazrat Nizamuddin studied Arabic and the Quran Sharif as well as meeting many Darveshes and Sufis, Who impressed the boy deeply. One day a wandering qawwal or devotional Singer came to Budaun and told Hazrat Nizamuudin about Baba Farid Ganjshakar and the deeply spiritual armosphere of his khanqah or Sufi convent at Ajodhan. AT the mere mention of the name of Baba Farid, Hazrat Nizamuddin’s life was transformed and he knew that some day he would sit at the feet of this great Sufi master,

After completing his basic education, Hazrat Nizamuddin at the age of eighteen, left Badaun & Came with his mother and sister to Delhi, the magnificent capital of the Sultanate Empire, to continue his studes.

In Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin distinguished himself among the highest academic circles, but he was restless and all this newly-acquired knowledge did not bring peace. After four years in delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin left the city and started for the Khanqah of Baba Farid at Ajodhan. Baba Farid accepted him as his disciple immediately recognizing the young man’s spiritual greatness and destiny. Hazrat Nizamuddin stayed several months at Ajodhan absorbing from Baba Farid rich hertage of Muslim and Sufi pracrices, and revisited his master several time during his lifetime . When he died in 1265, Baba Farid appointed Hazrat Nizamuddin as his spiritual successor and gave him his, own robe, staff and prayer rug.

Hazrat Nizamuddin lived near the Qutab Minar until sometime when he heard a my-sterious voice telling him to go to Ghiyaspur, a small village located several kilometers from the capital, Following this advice Hazrat Nizamuddin setted in Ghiyaspur with a few of his devoted disciples living in a sample Khanqah on the bank of the Jamuna river. As his fame spread, thousands of people began from the saint. His disciples and followers covered all levels of Indian society numbering among them princes, novels, merchants, ordinary workers and masses of the poor. Hazrat Nizamuddin’s daily life radiated love, tolerance and service to mankind, and the saint put into practice the words he often spoke:

“Feeling the needy is extolled by all faiths, creed and religion, and when people are gracious to each other God’s grace and mery descends upon them all.” By midnight the huge donations of food and money that daily poured into the khanqah were redistributed to the poor and each day began afresh trusting in the bounty of God. No one who came left empty-handed , and for centuries the Dargah Sharif has maintained its original reputation as a refuge for the hungry, sick and spiritually searching.

During his long life which spanned the reigns of Seven Successive Kinpgs of Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin warned his followers to keep aloof from the court and affairs of state. Many of the Sultan wished to visit the saint but Hazrat Nizamuddin would quietly say, “Tell the Sultan that there are two doors in my khanqah , and if he enters through the front door, I will leave by the back door.”

Surrounding the Dargah Sharif stand a rich concent of indo Islamic architecture. These striking tombs, mosques, fortifications and private dwelling from the mid-thirteenth century to the present day and themselves monuments to the unceasing veneration of both rich and poor for the saint over the last seven hundred years. Many of the buildings still serve their original purposes as places for congregational prayer, distribution of food to the poor, ritual bathing and meditative retreat.

Inside the Dargah Sharif, Pilgrims offer baskets of red roses and burn incense while qawwals sing devotional songs written by Hazrat Amir Khusro, a gifted poet of Persian and Urdu and beloved disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin, who was asked by his master to write verses in the colloquial language in order to bring people closer.

Today men , women and children of all religions and faiths come and pray together at the rose-covered tombs of Hazrat Amir Khusro and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia a moving testimony to the words of the saint who said , “Come to the path of truth, come whichever way you choose. You will finally reach the same goal.”