Sultan Bahu (also spelled as Sultan Bahoo; ; 17 January 1630 – 1 March 1691), was a Punjabi Muslim poet,

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

, and historian of the 17th century. Renowned for his mystical poetry, he was active during the reigns of

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

and

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

. Little is known about Bahu's life, other than what was written in a

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

called ''Manaqib-i Sultani'' seven generations after Bahu's own time. According to these records, he was born in Shorkot into the Awan tribe. He was son of Bayazid Muhammad, an officer in the Mughal Army, and Rasti. He belonged to Qadiri Sufi order, and started the mystic tradition known as Sarwari Qadiri. More than forty books on Sufism are attributed to him (mostly written in Persian), largely dealing with specialised aspects of Islam and Islamic mysticism. However, it was his Punjabi poetry which had popular appeal and earned him lasting fame. His verses are sung in many genres of Sufi music, including

qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

and kafi, and tradition has established a unique style of singing his couplets.

Education

Sultan Bahu's first teacher was his mother, Mai Rasti. She pushed him to seek spiritual guidance from Shah Habib Gilani. Around 1668, Sultan Bahu moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

for further training under the guidance of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi, a notable Sufi saint of the Qadiriyya order, and thereafter returned to

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

where he spent the rest of his life.

Literary works

The exact number of books written by Sultan Bahu is not known, but it is assumed to be at least one hundred. Forty of them are on Sufism and Islamic mysticism. Most of his writings are in the Persian language except ''Abyat-e-Bahu'' which is in Punjabi verse. Only the following books written by Sultan Bahu can be found today: * ''Abyat e Bahu'' * ''Risala e Ruhi'' * ''Sultan ul Waham'' * ''Nur ul Khuda'' * ''Aql e Baidar'' * ''Mahq ul Faqr'' * ''Aurang e Shahi'' * ''Jami ul Israr'' * ''Taufiq e Hidayat'' * ''Kalid Tauheed'' * ''Ain ul Faqr'' * ''Israr e Qadri''Sultan Bahu books on Rekhta.org website
Retrieved 18 May 2020 * ''Kaleed e Jannat'' * ''Muhqam ul Faqr'' * ''Majlis un Nabi'' * ''Muftah ul Arifeen'' * ''Hujjat ul Israr'' * ''Kashf ul Israar'' * ''Mahabat ul Israr'' * ''Ganj ul Israr'' * ''Fazl ul Liqa'' * ''Dewaan e Bahu''

Spiritual lineage

Sultan Bahu refers to Abdul Qadir Jilani as his spiritual master, even though Jilani died long before the birth of Sultan Bahu. However, most Sufis maintain that Abdul Qadir Jilani has a special role in the mystic world and that all orders and saints are always indebted to him directly or indirectly in some way. Thus, whilst referring to Jilani's Qadiriyya tradition, Sultan Bahu has left an offshoot of his own which he named ''Sarwari Qadiri''. According to tradition, the lineage reaches Sultan Bahu as follows:"Urs of Sultan Bahu begins"
''The News International'' (newspaper), Published 2 September 2019, Retrieved 18 May 2020 #

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

# Ali ibn Abi Talib # Hasan al Basri # Habib al Ajami #

Dawud Tai Abu Sulaiman Dawud ibn Nusair al-Tā'ī, () usually referred to as Dawud Tā'ī, (died between 776 and 783 CE) was an Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic. He resided in Kufa and was a prominent student of Abu Hanifa. His disciples included many inf ...

# Maruf Karkhi # Sirri Saqti # Junaid Baghdadi # Abu Bakr Shibli # Abdul Aziz bin Hars bin Asad Yemeni Tamimi # Abu Al Fazal Abdul Wahid Yemeni Tamimi # Mohammad Yousaf Abu al-Farah Tartusi # Abu-al-Hassan Ali Bin Mohammad Qureshi Hankari # Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi # Abdul Qadir Jilani # Abdul Razzaq Jilani # Abdul Jabbar Jilani # Syed Mohammad Sadiq Yahya # Najm-ud-Din Burhan Puri # Abdul Fattah # Abdul Sattar # Abdul Baqqa # Abdul Jaleel # Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi # Sultan Bahu The tradition has been continued to this day by Sultan Bahu's successors.

Shrine

The dargah (shrine) of Sultan Bahu is located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab. It was originally built on Bahu's grave site until the

Chenab River The Chenab River is a major river in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, the Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Hima ...

changed its course causing the need to relocate twice and as witnessed by those present at the time of relocation, claims that his body was still intact at the time. It is a popular Sufi shrine, and the annual

Urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

festival commemorating his death is celebrated there with great fervour on the first Thursday of Jumada al-Thani month. People come from far-off places to join the celebrations.Book Name: ''Tareekh-e-Jhang'', Author: Iqbal Zuberi, Publisher: Jhang Adibi Academy, Jhang Sadar, Pakistan, First Edition, Date: 2002 Sultan Bahu also used to hold an annual Urs to commemorate the martyrs of

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

from the first to the tenth day of the month of

Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...

. This tradition continues to this day and every year, and thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine during this period.

External links

https://www.sultanbahoo.net/

References