Muntakhab al-tawarikh 104: XXI. Miyán Vajihu-’d-dīn of Ahmadābād.
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 104
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XXI. Miyán Vajihu-’d-dīn of Ahmadābād.
104.1
He was descended of the line of ‘Alī, but he was not wont to proclaim his descent, on account of his being a foreigner. He was one of the greatest of the learned men of the age, excelling in devotion, piety, and holy endeavour, turning not aside from the path of the law, and, firmly seated in the corner of contentment, was constantly occupied in giving religious instruction. His grasp of all branches of knowledge, both of those which demand the exercise of the reasoning faculty and of those which depend upon the memory, was such that there was hardly a standard work, from light treatises on accidence to books of law and medicine and the commentary on the Miftāh and the ‘Azudī which he had not either written a commentary on or annotated, and the people were continually profited by his auspicious sayings. God, may He be praised, is known by his epithet, “the Healer,” and He made the Miyān a manifestation of that name, so that every day the sick and afflicted, in countless numbers, used to wait upon him and beseech him to pray for them, and would speedily experience the effects of that prayer. He never went of his own accord to the houses of worldly men, but only once or twice in the course of his life, and then in obedience to a summons, and unwillingly. He did not even leave his house and private masjid for the Friday congregational prayers. His house was the resort of the greatest and best men of the age.
104.2
In his dress and mode of life he was in no way distinguished from the common people, and contented himself with coarse raiment, distributing in charity whatever he received by way of alms. He received his religious instruction from Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus and followed his rule, although he had been the accredited disciple of another. He completed his studies with the Shaikh, drinking deeply and with relish of the fount of Sufiism. When Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus went from Hindustan to Gujarat, in the reign of Sultan Mahmud of Gujarat, Shaikh ‘Alī Mutaqqī, one of the greatest Shaikhs, most influential religious leaders and greatest sages of that time, wrote a fatwa, In company with the friends of Mir Sayyid Muhammad (may God sanctify his soul!) who had set up a claim to being the Mahdi and had travelled to Gujarat and the Dakhan, the Miyan at last adopted those opinions, and in the reign of Salim Shah, spent his time, in the manner already mentioned, in Biyana, in the corner of obscurity and retirement, living without pretensions and without ceremony, being, like ordinary men, free from encumbrances and attachments. And when Islam (Salim) Shah, as has been mentioned in the case of Shaikh ‘Ala’i of Biyana — may God have mercy upon him!
104.3
— bitterly persecuted him, being prompted thereto by Makhdumu-'l-Mulk, and had him severely beaten, with a view to preventing him (from preaching his doctrines), he again set forth on his wanderings, travelling in various parts of the world, and in the latter years of his life he abandoned (his belief in Mir Sayyid Muhammad’s) claim to being the Mahdi, and, retreating into a corner of retirement in Sirhind, followed the same mode of life as other holy men. When the Emperor rebuilt that cell which was near the Imperial palace he named it the ‘ibadat-khana (place of worship), and, the name of Miyan ‘Abdu-’llah being mentioned in connection with it, he was summoned from Sirhind, and had a personal interview with the Emperor, no other person being present, and His Majesty put questions to him. The Miyan, disavowing (any belief in) the Mahdawi doctrines, said, “At first the companionship of that sect seemed good to me, and I accordingly inclined to their doctrines, but after that the truth concerning the True God was revealed to me, and I recanted.” His Majesty sent him back with honour, and in the year H. 993 (A.D.
104.4
1585) at the time of the expedition to Atak, when His Majesty reached Sirhind, he again sent for the Miyan, and offered him some land as madad-i-ma'ash, but he, making contentment his title-deed, would not accept it, but the Emperor had the grant made out, whether the Miyan would or no, and had it delivered to him, and he, obeying the Emperor’s order, received the farman, but nevertheless forsook not his habit of relying on God alone, and did not in any way concern himself with the grant throughout his life. He made the books Ihya and Kimiya the guides of his actions. In the year in which Ulugh Mirza’s rebellion took place I was with Muhammad Husain Khan. I saw the Miyan in Sirhind, and he gave me some profitable lessons from the Ihya, which he had with him. A friend of his, named Mahmud Khan, who had been intimate with him since the days of Islam (Salim) Shah, and to whom Shaikh Mubarak, at the time of the persecution of Shaikh ‘Alai had given the title of Saifu-'llah (“the sword of God”), asked him, “What is the heart?”
104.5
He replied, “Between us and the heart lie a thousand stages, Why do you ask about this matter? Say something on ethics.” Afterwards, a propos of the mention of Mir Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur (may God sanctify his soul!) he brought forward an old Mughal and asked him to say what he knew of the Sayyid. He said, “At the time of the death of the holy Mir Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur I was present in Farah, when he withdrew his claim to being the Mahdi, and said, “I am not the promised Mahdi!” God knows (the truth). In the meantime Mahmud Khan said softly “Miyan ‘Abdu-’llah did wonderfully well in sending the unfortunate Shaikh ‘Ala’i to his death, while he himself retraced his steps.” Miyan ‘Abdu-’llah removed the baggage (of existence) from this borrowed lodging to the neighbourhood of Divine Providence (may his dignity be honoured!) at the age of 90, in the year H. 1000 (A.D. 1591-2). May God grant him a dwelling in the highest heaven!