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INTRODUCTION
Although in no wise bound by any oaths, all being free to change their community or order, and even to return to the world, each one regards it as a sacred duty to end his days in the dress of his order. They are imbued with the spirit of poverty, preserverance, deep humility and perfect submission to their superiors. They are seen moving about with the head bent and the most respectful countenance. “They never salute anyone, particularly the Maulavis and the Baqtashis, except by the name 'Ya Hü" !
Brown says:"The adoration of the master replaces also for the Darvishes the worship of the Divinity; the end of the being no longer dwelt in the intimate union of the soul with the Creator, but in an absolute conformity to the thoughts of the Shaikh ... Such is the first obligation, the only one so to speak, imposed on the Darvish, and expressed by, this species of mental prayer, called rabūta, (rabitā ?) to which he is not less exact in the performance than the ordinary Mussulman is to his namāz."
We would here give short particulars of the founders of some of the important orders mentioned above.
Shaikh 'Ilwān died at Jedda in 766 A. D; founded the 'llwānis.
Ibrāhim b. Adham died at Damascus in 777 A. D.; founded the Adhamis.
Bāyazid Bustāmi died at Jabal Bustām, in Syria, in 874 A. D.; founded the Bustāmis.
Sarī sagati died at Baghdad in 907 A. D., founded the Saqatis.
Shaikh 'Abd-ul-Qadir Gilāni died at Baghdad in 1165 A. D. at the age of ninety years founded the Qadiris.
Sa'id Ahmad Rifa'i died in the woods between Baghdad and Basra in 1182 A. D.; founded the Rifā'īs.
Shahābud-Din Suharwardi died at Baghdad in 1205; founded the Suharwardis.
Najm-ud-Din Qubrā died in Khwarazm in 1220 A. D.; founded the Qubrāwis.
'Abd-ul-Husain (Hasan b. 'Abd-ul-Jabbar) Shāzilī died at Makka in 1258 A. D.; founded the Shāzilīs.
