A Brief Study of Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A)’s Masterpiece Book ‘Ain ul Faqr’

2. The Greatness and Significance of Ain-Ul-Faqr Among 140 writings of Hadrat Sakhi Sultan Bahu, Ain ul Faqr is one of the most precious and well-known books, which keep the status of … (haq numa) … for the God Seekers. An eternal treasure with heart secrets, the knowledge of God and sitting with Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). Ain Ul-Faqr is the most precious and the most popular of his books, which is known as the compass of truth in the Sufi circles. While highlighting the significance of this fine work, Syed Ahmad Saeed Hamdani writes, The paramount importance of Ain UL Faqr can be summarized from the fact that special arrangements were made for the male children in the lineage of Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A) to learn this book on the academic pattern, which implied that the study of this book inculcates some capability to understand the Saintliness and Faqr of Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A). The study of this book renders a feeling of spiritual tranquility and calm and strange realities are revealed. Ain –ul-Faqr is a beautiful blend of prose and poetry. By and large, the book is in prosaic form but there is no such page, left unembellished by Sultan ul Arifeen with his poetic taste. Every here and there, his verses are scattered in the form of Mathnavi. Some of these are stanzas, some are couplets and an anthem also which is termed as “the anthem of love” by him. Besides his own poetic verses, the verses of other Sufi poets are also scattered everywhere. Alongside poetry, every page of the book contains the verses from the Holy Quran, The Sacred Narration (Hadith Qudsi), traditions of the Holy Prophet Syedna Muhammad (Hadith e Nabwi) SAW and the sayings of the Sufi poets. The style of the book is very attractive and subtle. The book

3. contains knowledge about mysticism and Gnostic enlightenment, intimate observations, Sufi implications, the preferences of affectionate, the points of wisdom, scholarly explanations, elucidating logics. The principles of worship and the pearls of righteousness have been assimilated in such a philosophical and established manner that a seeker of divine truth belonging to any era gets the maximum benefit from it, regardless of the age, he belongs to. Besides providing a comprehensive guideline about the path of Spirituality, this book also extends detailed knowledge about the Qadri Sufi mystic order. The religious and political conditions prevalent at the time of the composition of Ain-ul-Faqr Before his birth, the seed of Atheism which Jalal ud Din Akbar had sown in the soil of India is the name of the unanimity of all the religions and his intentions were dazed to the ground by a great Sufi Hazrat Sheikh Mujadad Alf Thani (the second), with his spiritual and scholarly powers. The same monotheism appeared again with the grandson of Akbar Dar- Ashikoh in the times of Sultan-ul-Arifeen, Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A). Dara Shikoh belonged to the same sect of Hazrat Sultan Al-Arifeen and intimate to him. Despite that Hazrat Sultan –ul-Arifeen, rejected Akbar and Dara Shikoh’s amalgamation of Right and Wrong (Haq /Batil). He stood with Aurangzeb Alamgir against Dara Shikoh to defend the religion and defeat agnosticism. Aurangzeb, according to prejudiced was very stringent in the matters of religion, but according to the proponents of truth, he was an embodiment of perseverance. He believed in the promulgation of Islamic Sharia in the kingdom. Hazrat Sultan Ul-Arifeen

4. composed a regular digest “Aureng Shahi) for Aurengzeb Alamgeer and in many of his writings he mentioned Aurangzeb Alamgir as Ameer –ul- Momineen (the head of the Islamic state) so that Aurengzeb wins popularity on a public level. According to historical references Aurengzeb made three meetings with Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A) and got spiritual vantage. Aurangzeb Alamgir believed in the implication of Islamic Sharia. On the contrary, Dar Shikoh wanted to make use of “Unanimity of Religions” and introduce such a Sufi movement that presented the similarities between the Holy Quran and Veedahs and ultimately merge Islam into Hinduism so that Mughal rule could be made more acceptable for the majority of the population over there. A Brief Study of Hadrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A)’s Masterpiece Book Ain ul Faqr These were the political and religious circumstances of Hindustan when Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (R.A) wrote this book. With the help of his spiritual powers and guidance and advice, he not only crushed the conflicting Atheism but also dilated upon the true meaning of Sufism, in the light of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (SAW). Hazoor Sultan Bahoo’s(R.A) own sayings about Ain-ul-Faqr Shareef He (R.A) wrote Ain-ul- Faqr at the age of 46 about which he himself mentioned in the following words in the last chapter of Ain –Ul-Faqr. “This point of the Oneness of Allah (Ain-ul-Faqr) has been written in the reign of Shah Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1085.” His birth year is 1039, thus in 1085, his age would be 46 years.

5. Why the book was named as Ain-ul-Faqr Shareef, this question has been replied in the foreword of this book in the following words, “Know this that this book has been named as Ain- ul-Faqr (the eye if the saintliness) because this book provides guidance to those who are the genuine seekers of Divine Truth and those desirous of annihilating themselves in Divinity, on any stage either it’s the beginning of the end of their journey and keeps them on the straight path and blesses them with the observation of the secrets of Divinity and the observation of the celestial Divine lights and eventually leads them to the knowledge of the truth, witnessing the truth, and believing the truth.