HAZRAT DATA GANJ BKSH (RA)

Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh, Ali Hajveri Hazrat Ali Hajveri "Ganj Baksh (bestower of spiritual treasures) is a grace to the world; a manifester of God's light. A perfect spiritual teacher for the beginners; a guide for the perfected." Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti (RA) BRIEF BIOGRAPHY: Birth Name: Abul Hassan Ali Ibn Usman al-Jullabi al-Hajvery al-Ghaznawi Born in: Ghazna (present day Afghanistan) Passed away in: Lahore, Pakistan In depth: He was born in 400 A.H. in Ghazni, Afghanistan to a Syed family (descendants of the Holy Prophet). He completed his earlier education in Ghazni by memorizing the Holy Quran, and then studied Arabic, Farsi, Hadith, Fiqh and Philosophy. At that time, Ghazni was the center of education in Central Asia, and it was the realm of the famous Afghan ruler, Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. After completing worldly education, Hazrat Ali Hajveri began to seek spiritual enlightenment . He travelled to many places for this purpose, and finally became a disciple (mureed) of Hazrat Abul Fazal Mohammad bin Khatli from the Junaidiya Sufi Order, who lived in Syria. In Syria, Hazrat Ali Hajveri started his spiritual education under the guidance of Hazrat Abul Fazal. He slept less, ate less, performed tough contemplations & meditation. Then he travelled to many countries & places like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Arabia, Azerbaijan etc. where he met many Sufi saints & dervishes. Once he entangled in a spiritual mystery and wasn't able to solve it, so he went to the tomb of Hazrat Bayazid Bustami, where he meditated for many days. Due to the grace of Hazrat Bayazid Bustami, he eventually solved the mystery. During his visit to Syria, he visited the tomb of the great Companion of the Rasulallah (s.a.w), Hazrat Bilal. There he slept for a while, and in his dream he found himself in Makkah, where he saw the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) with an old man who he didn't recognize. Then Hazrat Ali Hajveri fell at the feet of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) & kissed them. The Holy Prophet knew what Hazrat Ali Hajveri had in his mind, so he told him: "This man is Abu Hanifa, your Imam." Later his spiritual teacher (murshid), Hazrat Abul Fazal ordered him to go to Lahore to preach the spiritual teachings of Islam. He said: "Hazrat Shah Hussain Zanjani is already there for this purpose. Why is it that I should also be sent there?" Hazrat Abul Fazal said: "It's none of your business, just go to Lahore." So he left Syria & went to Ghazni. From Ghazni, he went to Peshawar & then to Lahore, in 1041 A.D (431 A.H). When he reached to Lahore, he saw that people are taking a coffin towards the graveyard for burial. He asked the people whose coffin that was, and they replied that it is the body of Hazrat Shah Hussain Zanjani. After hearing that, he understood why his teacher Hazrat Abul Fazal sent him to Lahore and so he started to preach Islam & build a mosque there. At that time, Lahore was included in the Ghazni Kingdom, whose ruler was Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. And the governer of Lahore was Ra'e Raju, who was a Hindu and it was believed that he had many great mystical abilities. The people of Lahore used to supply milk to Ra'e Raju in big quantities, as a payment for these "abilities". Once an old woman was on her way to him and she passed by Hazrat Ali Hajveri, holding a water-pot filled with milk. Hazrat Ali Hajveri asked her to give him some milk from that. The woman refused & said that she has to give it to Ra'e Raju. Hazrat Ali Hajveri said: "Give some milk to me and by the grace of God, your cow will produce much more milk than usual". The woman gave him the pot and Hazrat Ali Hajveri drank some of the milk, and then threw the remaining into the river. The old woman went to her home and was extremely surprised to see that the udders of her cow was full of milk. She filled all her pots with the milk, but still the cow kept producing more milk. Soon this news spread all around Lahore and people started to visit Hazrat Ali Hajveri. They brought pots of milk so that he would drink from it and bless it, and all of their cows started to produce more milk than ever before. Thus, the people of Lahore stopped supplying milk to Ra'e Raju. Later Ra'e Raju sent one of his disciples to Hazrat Ali Hajveri, as his disciples also had so-called mystical abilities. That disciple didn't come back, so Ra'e Raju sent another disciple, who also didn't come back. In that way, he sent all of his disciples, but no one came back at all. Finally, he himself went to Hazrat Ali Hajveri, in anger and frustration. Ra'e Raju challenged Hazrat Ali Hajveri to show him any miracle. Hazrat Ali Hajveri replied: "I'm not a juggler." Still, Ra'e Raju tried to impress him with his miracles, and started flying in the air. So then, Hazrat Ali Hajveri ordered his own shoes to bring him down. So the shoes of Hazrat Ali Hajveri went flying and hit Ra'e Raju on the head & brought him down. Ra'e Raju was inspired & embraced Islam on his hands. After accepting Islam, he changed his name to Sheikh Ahmed Hindi. When Hazrat Ali Hajveri built a mosque in Lahore, the front of the mosque was towards the south, and so it differed from all the other mosques of Lahore. So there became a doubt that the front of this mosque is not in the direction of the Ka'bah. The Scholars of Lahore ruled out that mosque, but Hazrat Ali Hajveri did not respond to them. When the mosque was built completely, he invited all scholars of Lahore & said to them: "You doubted whether the front of this mosque was facing the Ka'bah or not. Now see for yourself which direction the Ka'bah actually is!" When they looked to the front, they saw the Ka'bah before their eyes, as if they were sitting infront of it. All the scholars felt ashamed after watching that, and seeked forgiveness from Hazrat Ali Hajveri. Hazrat Ali Hajveri also built a room adjacent to that mosque, and used that room as Khanqa (a spiritual school). Many unbelievers accepted Islam at his hands, and many people reached the higher stages of spirituality under his guidance. He married twice, but both of his wives passed away soon after marriage. He had a son, named Hassan. He lived in Lahore for 21 years, and then went to Syria to meet his spiritual teacher Hazrat Abul Fazal. After the death of Hazrat Abul Fazal in 453 A.H, he returned once again to Lahore. Hazrat Ali Hajveri wrote many books, some of his books are: Diwan-e-She'r; Minhajuddin; Al-Bayan Lahal- Al-Ayan; Israrul Kharq Wal-Mauniyat; Behrul Quloob; Kitab Fana Wa Baqa; Birri'ayat Be-Huqooq-Ullah; Kashful Israr; Sharah-e-Kalam; and Kashful Mahjub. Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hajveri (also known as Data Sahib) passed away at the age of 65 in 465 A.H., in Lahore. When Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti visited Lahore in 561 A.H (1165 AD), he stayed at the tomb of Hazrat Ali Hajveri for two weeks where he meditated. When he finished his meditation, he said a couplet in Farsi: Ganj Bukhsh Faiz-e-Alam; Mazhar-e-Noor-e-Khuda Naqisa-ra Pir-e-Kamil; Kamila-ra Rahnuma Meaning: Ganj Buskh (Bestower of Spiritual Treasures) is a grace to the world; a manifester of God's light. A perfect spiritual teacher for the beginners; a guide for perfected. KASHF AL MAHJUB written by Hazrat Ali Hajveri Originally written in Persian, Kashf al-Mahjub is still considered one of the best insights into Sufism; the author, Hazrat Ali Hajveri, wrote it at the request of a fellow Sufi from his hometown of Hujwir. He travelled 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. An English translation is also available - translated in 1911 by Prof Nicholson.