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HAZRAT DATA GANJ BAKHSH
(Rehmatullah Alaih)
Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (R.A)
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn `Usman al-Jullabi al-Hujwiri al-Ghaznawi was born
in a small town in Afghanistan near Ghazni. He came to Lahore in 1039 during
the reign of Sultan Mas`ud, son of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. In Lahore he would
stay until his death in 1073, and such was the gratitude of the people of
Lahore for his spiritual gifts that they called him by the simple Hindi name
"Data" (meaning "the giver") or else "Data Ganj Bakhsh" ("the giver who bestows
treasure"). Few details are known of the life of this man, though he came to
exert a significant influence on Muslim spiritual life through his writings,
above all the famous Kashf al-mahjub (The Unveiling of the Concealed). His
tomb, moreover, which was built by the grandson of Sultan Mahmud, remains an
important center for followers of Sufism from all classes. A sign of his
importance for Sufism is the small shrine adjacent to Shaykh Hujwiri's tomb,
which is known today as the station of Shaykh Mu`in al-Din Chishti. When the
latter came from Afghanistan to India in the closing years of the twelfth
century, he is said to have stopped to pray and meditate at the tomb of Shaykh
Hujwiri to seek permission before going further, since Data Ganj Bakhsh had
spiritual authority over the entire Indian subcontinent. Shaykh Mu`in al-Din
evidently received permission to proceed, together with the broadest authority,
and as a result the Chishti Sufi order is probably the most extensive lineage
in South Asia. The ancient mosque near the tomb, which was originally built by
Shaykh Hujwiri himself, has recently been reconstructed with elegant
Turkish-style minarets, a modernistic dome, and fine stained glass windows (the
latter planned by American architectural designer Jay Bonner), so that it has
become a major showcase of modern Islamic architecture. The annual festival of
Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore, celebrated on his death-anniversary with the
support of Pakistan's Ministry of Charitable Trusts, attracts hundreds of
thousands of devotees. Politicians, understanding the popular appeal of the
saint, have been eager to associate themselves with him; so, for instance, when
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile in 1986, her cavalcade headed
directly from the airport to Data Durbar, the "court" where this spiritual
ruler of Pakistan presides. Presented by: Farhan Wilayat Butt, Translated by :
R. A. Nicholson, Photography : Nasir Rathore Copyright © Carl W. Ernst; not to
be reproduced without permission
Our interest in Shaykh Hujwiri, or Data Sahib, is principally in his book on
Sufism. Kashf al-mahjub was the first comprehensive book written in Persian
about Sufism, at a time when Arabic was still the dominant language for
expressing Islamic religious thought. Prior to Shaykh Hujwiri, masters such as
Abu Nasr al-Sarraj and Abu Talib al-Makki had written famous Arabic treatises
discussing Sufi thought and practice in terms of the standard religious
sciences. But Shaykh Hujwiri, who was also known for his Persian poetry,
effectively used the elegant and courtly Persian of the Samanid style to convey
his message. Kashf al-mahjub was a model for the great Sufi biographer Farid
al-Din `Attar (d. ca. 1220) when he wrote his Memorial of the Saints. The
Mughal prince Dara Shikuh wrote in the seventeenth century that none could
challenge the fame and greatness of Kashf al-mahjub, for it was written from
the perspective of the perfect teacher, and it had no equal on the subject of
Sufism in the Persian language. `Ali Qawim, editor of the edition of this text
published by the Iran-Pakistan Center for Persian Studies in 1978, observed
that this book is unparalleled in the beauty of its learned composition, its
attractive literary style, and its avoidance of unpleasant and jarring
expressions. It is worth mentioning that the superb library of the
Iran-Pakistan Center for Persian Studies in Islamabad, which contains over
15,000 Persian manuscripts, was named the Ganj Bakhsh Library in honor of
Shaykh Hujwiri.
Kashf al-mahjub is not simply a literary production, however, for it is an
exposition of practical Sufism summarizing a wide tradition of centuries of
reflection; the author wrote it at the request of a fellow-Sufi from his
hometown of Hujwir. Kashf al-mahjub is still one of the best descriptions of
the Sufi path. It has been said that those who seek a guide in Sufism should do
three things: pray for guidance, visit the tombs of the great shaykhs, and read
Kashf al-mahjub. Shaykh Hujwiri traveled widely and met most of the leading
Sufis of his day. Accounts of his personal experiences in Iran, Central Asia,
and the Middle East enliven his learned discussion of mysticism. He drew upon
writings of well-known Sufis such as Sarraj, Qushayri, and Ansari, and he also
had access to many early Sufi writings that no longer exist.
Fully one-third of the book is biographical, tracing the practice of Sufism
from the companions of the Prophet Muhammad through subsequent generations to
the time of Data Sahib himself. His unusual description of the different
schools of thought in early Sufism (in Chapter XIV) is a way of discussing the
meditative specialties of leading Sufis. The fact that he uses the theological
terminology of handbooks on Islamic sects could give the misleading impression
that the early Sufi schools were "sects" in some exclusive doctrinal sense, but
that would be an overly rationalistic reading of early Sufism. Readers should
also be aware that Shaykh Hujwiri was writing at a time before the emergence of
the Sufi orders, and so his description of Sufi teaching reflects the less
formal situation that prevailed prior to the establishment of Sufism as a major
public force in Muslim societies.
The last and perhaps most interesting part of the book consists of eleven
"unveilings" of Sufi practice, and it deals with knowledge of God, the divine
unity, faith, purity, prayer, alms, fasting, pilgrimage, the rules of Sufi
society, and technical terms. The final chapter describes the principles for
listening to Sufi music, the original form of the modern qawwali music
performed at shrines in India and Pakistan.
Presented by: Farhan Wilayat Butt, Translated by : R. A. Nicholson, Photography
: Nasir Rathore Copyright © Carl W. Ernst; not to be reproduced without
permission
Like his predecessor Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri, Shaykh Hujwiri had adopted the
theological teachings of al-Ash`ari, who stressed a rational interpretation of
Islam without approaching Greek philosophy as closely as did the Mu`tazili
theologians. This theological background gives the argumentation of Kashf
al-mahjub a systematic appearance, in some cases perhaps overly so. Shaykh
Hujwiri evidently had a particular fondness for the sayings of the
controversial Sufi martyr Hallaj, about whom he wrote a book, though he
regarded Hallaj's experiences as not having reached full maturity.
Unfortunately, Shaykh Hujwiri's other writings that are mentioned in Kashf
al-mahjub have not survived the centuries.
Shaykh Hujwiri appears from his book to have been a kind but irascible person
and a shrewd yet forgiving judge of character. The opening paragraphs of Kashf
al-mahjub show him testily explaining why he has put his name there so
prominently. He had made the mistake with two of his previous books of loaning
out the original manuscripts to unscrupulous people, who then erased his name
and claimed the books as their own work! Shaykh Hujwiri has also captured
effectively the hypocrisy of some official representatives of Sufism, as in his
description of the wealthy Sufis in Khurasan who threw him rotten melon rinds
while they feasted on the best. And he had his difficult moments too. His
master Abu al-Fazl al-Khatli (Nicholson spells the name as Khuttali) was a
serious and learned recluse whom Shaykh Hujwiri described as the most
awe-inspiring man he had ever met, and it was al-Khatli who ordered Shaykh
Hujwiri to move from Ghazni to Lahore. Hujwiri arrived just in time to attend
the funeral of a fellow disciple and take his place as the resident Sufi of
Lahore, but he seems to have come so hastily that he left his beloved library
behind. He is said to have written, "My books are all left in Ghazni, and now I
am trapped in Lahore with unkind people!" The shock of the move must have worn
off quickly, though, for Shaykh Hujwiri became the most beloved Sufi of Lahore,
and he is remembered today by thousands who revere him as "the giver who
bestows treasure."
The Persian text of Kashf al-mahjub has been published several times in Lahore,
Deoband, Samarqand, and Tashkent. It has been rendered in several Urdu
translations as well as into Arabic.1 The best critical edition of the Persian
text was published in Leningrad by the Russian Orientalist, Valentin Zhukovski,
in 1926, and it has frequently been reprinted in Iran.2 The English-reading
public has had access to the excellent translation of R. A. Nicholson, first
published in 1911, and frequently reprinted both in England and in Pakistan. It
is this translation that is once again presented to the public, for those who
are interested in the sources of Sufi spirituality.
1 The Arabic version is by Dr. Is`ad `Abd al-Hadi Qandil (Cairo, 1974).
2 The most recent reprint of Zhukovsky's edition has a lengthy new introduction
by Qasim Ansari (Tehran: Tuhuri, 1979).
Presented by: Farhan Wilayat Butt, Translated by : R. A. Nicholson, Photography
: Nasir Rathore Copyright © Carl W. Ernst; not to be reproduced without
permission
Nicholson's translation was one of the best achievements of the European
Orientalist scholarship of its time. Based on Persian manuscripts in British
libraries, it was abridged to some extent, occasionally leaving out parallel
examples or Qur'anic quotations in order to stick more closely to the main
argument. In addition to its learned translation of the Persian text (and the
numerous Arabic quotations that it contains), Nicholson's version also supplied
two valuable indexes of names and terms, to help the reader find the way. But
this translation was also subject to some of the limitations that afflicted
old-fashioned Orientalism. Occasionally Nicholson could not help making
condescending Eurocentric remarks, such as when he observed in his Preface,
"The logic of a Persian Sufi must sometimes appear to European readers
curiously illogical" (p. xvi). Like other scholars of his generation, Nicholson
believed that Sufism was not really a part of Islam, but was somehow grafted on
from some Indian or Greek source. As I have argued elsewhere, this was a
stratagem by which scholars justified their interest in Sufi literature while
retaining the long-standing European bias against Islam.3
Contemporary Chishti Sufi leaders in Pakistan have criticized Nicholson for his
assumption that Sufi doctrine and practice was some kind of later deviation
from pristine Islam; they maintain that it is in fact Sufism that provides the
surest guide to the true meaning of the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad. In that spirit, my dear friend, the late Capt. Wahid Bakhsh Sial
Rabbani, produced a new complete English translation and commentary on Shaykh
Hujwiri's Kashf al-mahjub, which has recently been published in Malaysia; there
he quoted his fellow-Chishti, Hadhrat Shahidullah Faridi, on Nicholson's
misunderstandings.4 Nevertheless, Capt. Wahid Bakhsh also acknowledged that it
was Nicholson's translation of Kashf al-mahjub that in 1935 inspired the
conversion to Islam of a young Englishman named Lennard, who later became a
Chishti master under his Muslim name Shahidullah Faridi. So it might be
concluded that even works produced with an Orientalist edge can have a personal
impact, in which the spiritual power or baraka of the original text comes
through.
Sufism is a subject that continues to be hotly debated in Muslim societies even
as it takes on a new cultural and spiritual importance in Europe and America.
For those who are curious about how this remarkable tradition started, there
are few resources available that have the authority and depth of information
contained in Kashf al-mahjub. Those who take the time to study Kashf al-mahjub
will be grateful to Shaykh Hujwiri for his superb description of the inner life
of Sufism.
For Contact:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
3 Carl W. Ernst, The Shambhala Guide to Sufism (Boston: Shambhala Publications,
1997). Presented by: Farhan Wilayat Butt, Translated by : R. A. Nicholson,
Photography : Nasir Rathore Copyright © Carl W. Ernst; not to be reproduced
without permission
4 Syed `Ali bin Usman al-Hujweri, The Kashful Mahjub: "Unveiling the Veiled",
The Earliest Persian Treatise on Sufism, trans. Maulana Wahid Bakhsh Sial
Rabbani (Kuala Lumpur: A. S. Noordeen, 1997), pp. xvi-xvii. It is worth noting
that Shahidullah Faridi himself wrote a preface to an earlier reprint of the
English version of Nicholson that was published in Lahore (ibid., p. xv). As
with all important texts, the existence of more than one translation is a boon
for those unfamiliar with the original, and comparison of this new version with
Nicholson's will help reveal many interesting points.
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