________________ Shaikh Muhammad Qazin Shuttari of Basarh 427 keep quarantine at the cell of Maulana Muzaffar Balkhil in the shrine of the great saint of Bihar-Sharif. IV. iv. Initiation into the Shuttari Order He did not at first feel attracted towards bis future spiritual guide, Shaikh Abdullah Shuttari, when the latter had come to Bihar during the course of his journey to Bengal and Jaunpur before proceeding to Mandu where he finally settled down and died. The challenge of Shaikh Abdullah Shuttari to every 'seeker' to come to him to teach or be taught principles of Taubid, and his pompous tours made perhaps an unfavourable impression upon him at first.. At long last, however, he was prevailed upon by his friends and fellow workers, such as Ahmad Muhammad, Abdul Hakim, and Shaikh Saadullah to accompany them from Bihar to Mandu. For three days the saint of Mandu took no notice of him and for several months in hot summer the corpulent Shaikh Qazin waited daily upon Shaikh Abdullah Shuttari performing obeisance and perspiring from head to foot due to the intense heat of the hilly region. At last one day to test his earnestness he was instructed to practise incessant fasting called Tai. In the meanwhile, another occasion arose to test bis devotion to duty. His companion, Abdul Hakim Bihari, fell so seriously ill that no hope was left of his life. Through his able nursing and blessings of the saints and grace of God, he, however, recovered. Though still very weak, he requested Shaikh Qazin to take him back to Bihar so that he might see his children. The Shaikh was torn between two sentiments, the desire to complete his period of probation under the saint of Mandu so as to attain his ends in the next world and the sense of duty and fidelity to a fellow man in this world. He told the saint of Mandu that though he had left his small children and covered a distance of about 500 koses to learn bis spiritual lessons from the addressee, be had decided to discharge his duty by his friend, and he was permitted to do so. On the fourth day of the journey, however, bis friend gladly allowed him to return to Mandu to complete his austerities. He was well received and on the night of Friday, the 4th of Zilbijja, 881 A. H., he was formally initiated in the Order of the Shuttaris and received instructions in Khas-ulKhas'. He was then directed to return to Bibar and continue his mission. 1. A very learned and pious saint of royal extraction whose Maktubat contains, among other things, correspondence with Sultan Ghiasuddin of Bengal. He died in 788 A. H. or 1386 A.D.
