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Muntakhab al-tawarikh 151: XXXII. Shaikh ‘Abdu-’l-Ghanī of Badāon.

Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 151

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151

He also is one of the successors of Shaikh ‘Abdu-’l-‘Azīz. In asceticism he has no equal in these days, and in seeking solitude, He is the Shibli of the age. At the beginning of his career, when he was a student in Badaon, he used to be overcome by religious ecstasy, and sometimes even in the midst of his studies, on hearing the chanting of a mystical song, he would remain insensible for a whole watch of the day, more or less. When his intimate friends asked him what he had seen to bring this ecstatic trance upon him, he would reply, "I know nothing of it."
In consequence of the responsibilities which he incurred by his marriage, which is a pitfall for enlightened seekers after knowledge, —
Couplet. Who are the robbers whom we encounter on our road to God? These robbers are no other than women —
he came to Dihli in search of a livelihood, and there entered the service of Tatar Khan, the governor of the city, who, though clad in the habiliments of the great ones of the earth, was one of the godly. The Shaikh attached himself as a disciple to Shaikh 'Abdu-'l-'Aziz, and under him he studied all those books which are generally current and are included in the ordinary curriculum. He then spent several years in teaching, and was then suddenly drawn mysteriously by God's grace, and, abandoning all his occupations, he joined the circle of ascetics in the Shaikh's hospice, and employed himself in striving in the path of holiness and in self-mortification. After attaining perfection he left human habitations and took up his dwelling near the footprint of his holiness the resort of apostleship (may the blessing and peace of God be upon him!), in a sarai known as ... the masjid of Khan-i-Jahan. There he dwells in religious seclusion, and, in spite of his having a large family, he follows a religious rule, with a firm trust in God. He had not taken one step from the corner of retirement when in the year H. 1003 (A.D. 1594-95) the Khan-i-Khanan waited upon him, and asked him for his advice. He said, “Deem the following of the holy law of Muhammad (may the blessing and peace of God be upon him!) to be of the first importance.” At the time when this hastily compiled history was written Ahmad-i-Sufiyak and Hisamak of Banaras, men newly converted to Islam, who in the religious strife of these latter days are branded with the mark of eternal execration —