Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 53
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 244
________________ 232 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY OCTOBER, 1924 number of human beings." He was by birth, of the universe is based on love. It may, there. as it were, a Sufi Saint. "It was an ancient fore, be set down that the deeper a man's love of practice among the Sufis to seek annihilation in God, the greater is his spiritual knowledge in proone of the Divine attributes which coloured the portion." Here we have the teaching of Haji whole of wheir existence and became its predomi. Waris 'Ali. In this doctrine he became "effaced nant feature. The attributo in question involves from sell," even to the point of becoming "effaced the annihilation of self and the true recognition from offacemont"-the old Indian Hindu doc. of the everlasting nature of the Deity." The trine of reaching to Nothing, to the Nothing that attribute concerned with Haji Waris 'Ali was the exists as a reality. On his path of progress Haji name Waris, “one of the ninety-nine names of Waris 'Ali passed through the several stages of God ( used in the Koran) and indicating that spiritual progression till he reached tawakkul after everything else has perished, He alone will complete dependence on God and taslimu-raza, survivo." Here we have the key to this Saint's resignation to his will. life. Unfortunately he disliked long discourses and He was initiated into Sufism by his brother has left no systematic teaching behind him: only in-law, Haji Sayyad Khadim 'Ali Shah of Luck. certain precepts and not many of them. His now, to whose mantle he succeeded at eleven years teaching, however, illustrated certain Sufi doc. of age, and by the age of fourteen he had a number trines: "God alone has a real existence ; every.' of disciples. At fifteen he started for Mecca, thing else is 'non ons,'” and “the seat of God is and quite in his youth he became a Darvesh. He not Heaven: you should look for him among then travelled for twelve years all over Western yourselves," reversing thus the doctrine, "All is Asia, and in Europe to Turkey, Russia and Ger. God” by making it, “God is all.” The Haji many, but there is no record of the journeys. In had his own way of publicly admitting applicants Europe he is said to have been received by the to the Order-admitting all alike, men and women Sultan 'Abdu'l-Majid at Constantinople and by of every shade of thought and of every religion, Bismarck in Berlin. Altogether he made seven with a different formula for different faiths, and he pilgrimages to Mecca and wandered always, re. encouraged non-Muslims to follow their own faith turning to Dowa permanently only in 1899, when " with greater zeal and sincerity." 80 years of age-& celibate ascetic all his life, which His disciples were in two classes—those who lasted till 1905. embraced the ascetic life and those who did not, There are many tales and doubtless some legends while adopting his doctrine. Of the last class told of this remarkable Sufi Saint of our own time, there were very many, even from distant parte but the interest in his biographer's account of of Europe. He was, like all Sufis, practically him lies in the Sufism exhibited by Haji Waris 'Ali. To describe this, he enters into & very brief accused of heterodoxy, & charge largely based on his acceptance of all religions into his fold. history of the Sufis which is worth reading for the At the same time, miraculous actions are novelty of the views expressed. He apparently attributed to him. By his own wish he had denies their want of orthodoxy, and then he goes on: "Sufism is really & practical philosophy with an no successor. ethical side. In order to obtain a real insight The great pity of the life of this great man into it, it is essential to go through certain oxer is that he loft no real "Word " behind him, but cises and observances. Hence the need for & we are told that "an oxcellent treatise explaining spiritual preceptor or Shaikh' as the Sufis call his mystio doctrine has been published by an old him." Here the writer give us a remarkable disciple (9 in Urdu), Mirza Ibrahim Beg Shaida footnote : "The word (Shaikh) should not be of Lucknow, under the title of Minhaju'l Ishqia mixed up with the popular caste-name"-Another Irshadat Warisiya." Now, the reason I have instance of the power of the Hindu idea of casto dealt with this article at length is that it is very in India. The biographer then describes the fall important for English and European studenta of the Shaikhs from their original high moral po. to have an authoritative scoount of modern Su. sition, till they "trade on the credulity of the fism before them, and I much hope that a correct popular mind and offer to give you a passport to translation of the treatise will be forthcoming. Heaven if you can pledge your faith to them!" The issue winds up with one of Mr. W. H. More But all this does not create a bad system, and it land's excellent accounts of early European trado is contended that in Haji Waris 'Ali one finds In India--this time on the operations of the Dutch a man "who knows God as he ought to be known." | East India Company, from the W. Geleynssen Of the three great Sufi schools in India-thede Jongh Collection in the Public Record Office Qadiriya, the Chishtiya, and Naqshbandiya, Haji at the Hague. This collection throws invaluable Waris 'Ali belonged to the first two. "The key. "sidelights on life in Agra, 1637-39," and Mr. note of his system was Divine and Universal Love." Moreland's method has further illuminated it. Again: "The Sufis claim that the eternal order R. C TEMPLE,

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392