Mian Muhammad Bakhsh
Mīān
Muhammad Bakhsh (
Punjabi: میاں
محمد بخش ) was a
Sufi saint and a Punjabi/Pahari poet; he belonged to the Qadiri tariqah. He is especially renowned as the author of a book of poetry called Saiful Malūk. He was born in
a village called Khari Sharif, situated near
Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.
Upbringing
He was brought up in a very religious environment, and received his early education at home. He was later sent with his elder brother, Mīān Bahāval, to the nearby village of Samwal Sharīf to study religious sciences, especially the science of Hadith in the madrassah of Hāfiz
Muhammad 'Alī. Hāfiz Muhammad 'Alī had a brother, Hāfiz Nāsir, who was a majzub, and had renounced worldly matters; this dervish resided at that time in the mosque at Samwal Sharīf. From childhood Mīān Muhammad had exhibited a penchant for poetry, and was especially fond of reading
Yūsuf ō Zulaikhā by
Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami. During his time at the madrassah, Hāfiz Nāsir would often beg him to sing some lines from
Jami's poetry, and upon hearing it so expertly rendered would invariably fall into a state of spiritual intoxication.
Mīān Muhammad was still only fifteen years old when his father, falling seriously ill, and realizing that he was on his deathbed, called all his students and local notaries to see him. Mīān Shamsuddīn told his visitors that it was his duty to pass on the spiritual lineage that he had received through his family from Pīr-e Shāh Ghāzī
Qalandar Damriyan
Wali Sarkar; he pointed to his own son, Mīān Muhammad, and told those assembled that he could find nobody more suitable than he to whom he might award this privilege.
Everybody agreed, the young man's reputation had already spread far and wide. Mīān Muhammad, however, spoke up and disagreed, saying that he could not bear to stand by and allow his elder brother Bahāvul to be deprived of the honour.
The old man was filled with so much love for his son that he stood up and leaving his bed grasped his son by the arms; he led him to one corner and made him face the approximate direction of
Baghdad, and then he addressed the founder of their
Sufi Order,
Shaikh 'Abdul-Qādir Jīlānī, presenting his son to him as his spiritual successor. Shortly after this incident his father died. Mīān Muhammad continued to reside in his family home for a further four years, then at the age of nineteen he moved into the khānqāh, where he remained for the rest of his life. Both his brothers combined both religion and worldly affairs in their lives, but he was only interested in spirituality, and never married - unlike them.
Formal pledge of allegiance
Despite the fact that he had essentially been made a khalīfah of his father, he realized that he still needed to make a formal pledge of allegiance or bay'ah to a
Sufi master.
Having completed his formal education he began to travel, seeking out deserted locations where he would busy himself in prayer and spiritual practices, shunning the company of his fellow-men. He took the Sufi pledge of allegiance or bay'ah with Hazrat Ghulām Muhammad, who was the khalīfah of Bābā Badūh Shāh Abdāl, the khalīfah of Hājī Bagāsher (of Darkālī Mamuri Sharīf, near
Kallar Syedan District Rawalpindi), the khalīfah again of Dumriyan Wali Sarkar. He is also said to have travelled for a while to
Srinagar, where he benefitted greatly from
Shaikh Ahmad Valī.
Poetic talents and works
Once he had advanced a
little along the Sufi way he became more and more interested in composing poetry, and one of the first things he penned was a qasidah (quatrain) in praise of his spiritual guide. Initially he preferred to write siharfis and duhras, but then he advanced to composing stories in verse. His poetry is essentially written in the
Pothohari dialect of Panjabi, and utilizes a rich vocabulary of
Persian and
Arabic words.
His works include: Siharfi, Sohni Meheinval, Tuhfah-e
Miran, Tuhfah-e- Rasuliyah, Shireen
Farhad,
Mirza Sahiban,
Sakhi Khavass
Khan,
Shah Mansur, Gulzar-e Faqir, Hidayatul Muslimin,
Panj Ganj, Masnavi-e Nīrang-e '
Ishq. He also wrote a commentary on the Arabic Qasidat-ul-Burda of al-Busiri and his most famous work, entitled Safarul 'Ishq (
Journey of
Love), but better known as Saiful
Maluk.
Death
He died on the 7th day of the
Islamic month of
Dhu al-Hijjah 1324 AH (1907 AD), and was buried in
Khari Sharif, not far away from his great great grandfather, Damriyan Wali Sarkar. To this day many people visit his tomb with the intention of receiving spiritual blessings.
- published: 12 Feb 2012
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