Hazrat Khwaja Abul Hassan Amir Khusro Biography

Hazrat Khwaja Abul Hassan Amir Khusro Biography

Hazrat Amir Khusro
Name: Hazrat Khwaja Abul Hassan Amir Khusro
Titles: Mehboob Mehboob-E-Illahi, Shirin Sokhan,
Tottiy-E-Hind, Yamin-Ud-Deen
Predecessor: Hazrat Khwaja Sayed Nizamuddin
Auliya ( ﺭﺣﻤﺘﮧ ﺍﻟﻠﮧ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ )
Date of Birth: 1253 A.D.
Date of Wisaal: 1325 A.D.
Date of Urs: 17th, Shawwal
Resting at: Delhi, India.
A legend is there that when Hazrat Amir Khusro’s
first saw His Holiness Hazrat Syed Nizamuddin
Aulia (R.A). It is said that young Amir Khusro
went to His Holiness khanqah, but did not entered
and remained at the door by remarking, "I shall
select my "Peer" myself, and if it is bestowed with
Divine Power he will converse with me even from
distance."
Thus sitting at the door he composed:
Tu an Shah-e-ke bar aiwan-e-qasrat.
Kabutar gar nashinad baz garded.
Gharib-e mustanande baradar amad.
Be ayat andar un ya baz gardad.
(You are such a mighty King that if a pigeon sits
on your palace, it turns into a hawk. An outsider
and a needy person has come at your door, please
let him know whether he should come in, or go
away).
His Holiness who had supernatural powers sent
him the following verse in reply:
"Biya yet andarun marde haqiqat,
Kibama yak nafas hamraz gardad,
Agar ablah buwad an mard nadan,
Azan rahe ki amad baz gardad."
(The person who knows the truth may come inside
so that we may exchange divine secrets between
us for a moment. If that person is ignorant, then he
should return on the same path from where he has
come here.)
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) immediately got up and
ran to His Holiness and fell on his feet and wept!
His Holiness accepted him as his disciple (murid)
and gradually the two became inseparable and
attached to each other.
Love is deep rooted in human nature. Every Soul
has a natural inclination towards another soul.
Love in fact, –beautifies the soul, and beauty of the
soul resides in love for humanity. Love, the Sufis
believe is greater than religion. Love is the essence
of all creeds. Every worshiper worships God out of
Love. Love enslaves him. The true majestic
welcomes love whatever its guise. One who has a
perfect insight beholds God in everything.
God is both transcendent and immanent. He is the
essence of all existence. The whole universe is a
manifestation of Allah Taála (God). His Oneness
appears in diversity. The Holy Quran points out:
"Which ever way you turn, to God belongs the east
and the west there is the face of Allah Taála. He is
Omnipresent and All Knowing (Quran 2:115)."
"Are they still in doubt as to their beholding the
countenance of God? Do they not realise that God
encompasseth all things? (Quran 41:54)."
"When my servants question you about Me, tell
them that I am near (with them)." (Quran 2:186)
"Quran Sharif also points out "God is nearer to
man than to any other thing."
Life History
Hazrat Amir Khusro was a great Sufi, a wealthy
merchant who once exchanged all his wealth for a
pair of His Holiness Sultan-ul-Mashaikh shoes, an
intellectual giant of many languages, an artist, a
prolific author, a genius musician who invented the
‘sitar’, a versatile composer and a true devoted
"mureed" of His Holiness. He was "All-in-One" type
of highly amazing mixture of Divine gifts.
Dome of the shrine of Hz. Amir Khusro
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) was the son of Amir
Alachin a Turk from Laccheen. His actual name
was Saifuddin Mahmood Shamsi. At the invasion of
Gengiz Khan he migrated from his native place
Kesh near Samarkand to Balkh. Saifuddin was the
chieftain of Hazara. Shamsuddin Iltamish the King
of Delhi welcomed them to his capital. He provided
shelter to the dislodged prince’s artisans, scholars
and rich nobles. Saifuddin was among them. It was
around 626/ 360 A.H/1226 A.D. In 1230 A.D he
was granted afief in the district of Patiali (in Etah
District-Uttar Pradesh). He married to BiBi Daulat
Naz, who bore him three sons and one daughter.
Yaminuddin (Khusro) was one among them born at
Patiali, presently known as Hazrat Amir Khusro
Nagar in District Etah (U.P.) in the year 652-653
A.H/1252-53 A.D. Yaminuddin’s (Khusro) father
Saifuddin was mostly engaged in battles, and was
killed in 660 A.H/1260 A.D. Yaminuddin or Khusro
was an intelligent child. Poetry came to him at the
early age of eight.
Later, Khusro reflects on his father’s bravery as:
"My father Saifuddin Mahmood Shamsi, the
renowned breaker of enemies ranks, possessed
might, enough to conquer the world with all the
merits of his inner self, he never spoke about his
inherent goodness and behaved like an Angel. He
was a military commander and a saint. Although he
was highly educated and cultured, he loved
martyrdom from the beginning and he drank
ultimately the Sharbate-Shahadat."
A Great Secular Scholar and Patriotic Poet
There is no country in the World whose cultural
heritage is so much blended with divine touch. In
Punjabi, Baba Farid and Nanak spoke in poem –
thus the beginning of Punjabi literacy heritage. In
Gujarat, Narsi Mehta and Meera Bai sang songs of
the glory of Ranchchodji – thus the beginning of
Gujarati Literature. In Kashmir, Lalleshwari and
Nand Rishi (Sheikh Nurudedin) sang to the glory of
God – thus the beginning of Kashmiri language.
Urdu, (the rich language of India) was also born in
the same fashion. His Holiness showed keen
interest in the promotion of mutual love and
goodwill among all classes of people. When His
Holiness found that languages and dialectic
obstacles clogged this harmony and hindered the
understanding amongst the Afghans, the Iranians
and the Turks and others, His Holiness ordered
Hazrat Amir Khusro to invent a "new language" so
as to facilitate inter-communication and
homogenous oneness amongst the people of India.
Hazrat Amir Khusro mixed the Persian with local
Brij Bhasha (native language of the North) and this
mixture laid the foundation of Urdu. With the
passage of time and by its usage it developed into
more refined Urdu cultural.
Delhi is proud of His Holiness and Hazrat Khusro.
Delhi is proud of Urdu. It was in Delhi that Urdu
was born, nourished and flourished. Hazrat Khusro
is the father of Modern Urdu Literature. He
composed the first poem in Hindi too. He is the
pioneer of Hindustani Literature. He was a great
scholar in Persian. He introduced Sitar, the five
string instrument. He was a pioneer of Indian
Classical music.
Hazrat Amir Khusro was not only a talented and
highly learned poet of India having full command
over Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Hindi and Sanskrit
languages but he was a distinguished Sufi by virtue
of his initiation and closeness to His Holiness. His
poetical composition, specially the Persian-Hindi
blending were aimed at cementing the bonds of
culture and friendship between the Hindus and
Muslims.
Amir Khusro was a leading poet in Persian and
Hindi languages. In his introduction to ‘Ghurratul
Kamal’ Khusro wrote that, "a few poems that I
have composed in Hindi I have made a gift to my
friends." He was a Hindustani Turk. In another
famous verse he said, "To speak the truth, I am an
Indian parrot. If you want to listen from me some
subtle verses, ask me then to recite some of my
Hindi poems".
Amir Khusro says that the Hindus are Mushrik,
(i.e. pluralist in their belief of God) as under:
"Though Hindus are not men of our faith, yet on
certain points they hold concurrent ideas in respect
of our faith. They affirm that life is one and eternal
and that God created everything."
He was the monarch in the field of prose and
poetry. His Holiness, Hazrat Syed Nizamuddin Aulia
(R.A) says, "He is our Khusro not Nasiri Khusro,
May God help my Khusro". Amir Khusro remained
wedded to truth, love and humanity.
Path of Sufism
Amir Khusro was very promising child. He became
a scholar of philosophy and science in short time.
At the age of twenty, he became a famous poet. He
was a man of soaring imagination. The greatness
lies in his breaking the mistrust and isolation in the
then existing various culture groups and thus
paving the way for reconciliation at the social and
ideological levels. Such conciliation and concord
amongst them was a moral and intellectual
demand besides being an urgent social necessity.
Hazrat Amir Khusro rose to a high status because
of his connections in political circles and had
opportunities of observing many important events
from close quarters. He was a man of learning and
helped the growth of Hindustani literary societies.
His genius unfolded itself in poetry, music and
prose.
Inside the shrine of Hz. Amir Khusro
After his father’s death, he migrated along with his
mother to Delhi where he was brought up by his
maternal grandfather Imadul Mulk Rawat Arz. Mir
Khurd writes that His Holiness Hazrat Syed
Nizamuddin Aulia (R.A) came to Delhi at the age
of sixteen for the purpose of his higher education in
the profession of Qazi. By a strange turn of fortune
he stayed in the same locality where Amir Khusro
lived i.e. in Namak Sarai. After some time His
Holiness Hazrat Syed Nizamuddin Aulia (R.A)
shifted to Rawat Arz house on the recommendation
of Hazrat Amir Khusro. He further writes that when
Amir Khusro reached his adolescence he became
"Iradat Kash" of His Holiness Hazrat Syed
Nizamuddin Aulia (R.A). Amir Khusro writes in the
preface to his "Diwan" "Wastful Hayat" that he was
sixteen years old when he found His Holiness
Hazrat Syed Nizamudddin Aulia (R.A) as his
spiritual mentor, along with Mufti Moizuddin
Gharifi. Both of them guided him to the path of
following the style of Shaikh Sadi and Ispahani.
Son of an Indian Soil
Man himself is a mysterious being. His soul,
spiritual powers, insights, intuitive faculties, contact
with ultimate Reality and several other things have
made him an enigma.
The Holy Prophet says:
"I am creating man from dry clay from black
moulded loam. When I have fashioned him and
breathed My spirit into him…" Quran (15:29).
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) says:
"Ashiqui um kah gar a waz dahi jane mera
Dost az seenah um awaz bar arad kah manam."
(I am a lover, if any one calls my Soul)
My beloved responds from inside my breast saying
it is ‘I’.
He also believes that his beloved God is
omnipresent in his essence:
Hasti man rafat va qayalish ba mamand,
In kah tu beeni nah manam balkeh oost.
(My entity has disappeared, now I think only of
Him. That which you actually see is not me but
He.)
Allah Tala (God) is the most important being for
the mystics to contemplate on. They hold that it is
beyond the limits of human mind to apprehend God
and to circumscribe Him. Hazrat Amir Khusro
argues that even with the help of mental and
intellectual faculties it is not possible to apprehend
Allah Tala (God):
"Dar niyai bih fahm aliman
Darnah gan ji bih wahm admiyan."
(Thou cannot be comprehended by worldly people.
Thou cannot be confined to the imagination of
man.)
Man himself is a mysterious universe unto himself
with all his mental powers he cannot understand
his own self. How can it be possible to understand
Allah Tala?
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) states:
"Ankh khud rashanaqat nah tu aanad,
A free nandah ra kuja danad."
(A man who cannot conceive his own self, can he
ever be able to conceive his Creator)
Thus, said the Prophet (S.A.W.):
Man Arafa Nafsa hu
Faqad Arafa Rabba hu
(Those who realised himself has realised the Allah
Tala (God)).
Hazrat Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar (R.A) advises
that:
"Do not insult a man by a bad word. For in
everyone genuine Lord lives."
Hazrat Abu Sayeed Abul Khair (R.A) says:
"I went to the the church of the Christians and the
place of the Jews. And saw that both are facing
you.
The desire to meet You took to me to the temple of
Idols (Hindus)
And I heard the idols singing Your love songs."
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) though he was
distinguished in Suluk, and Tariqat (Way of God)
and was also a great patriot to his mother land. He
used to quote a saying of Prophet (PBUH):
"Love of country is like Love of religion."
This is according to the Tradition (Hadees):
"Oh, group of believers! Love of the country is
certainly like the real faith (in religion)."
Hazrat Amir Khusro (R.A) believed, India with its
beauty - is a Paradise on the earth!.
He said:
"Kishwere Hind Ast Bahashti Bih Zameen".
India is a country like Paradise on the earth.
"Falak az u jumla amad hindustan bar tar guft har
chah az ameen kishwer amad."
(The heavens said that all the countries which
have come of the earth. Among them all only
Hindustan (India) has come up to the height of
excellence.)
He himself refers indirectly and said:
"Singing like a parrot, in the ancient bower
(dwelling),
Is the lot of Khusro blessed with Almighty Power."
Hazrat Abul Hassan said that Amir Khusro heart
was equally capable of responding with all the
swirl and glow of passion, to the love of the
Infinite. It is the cosmic emotion that vibrated
through all his mystical ghazals, and they seem to
have emerged out of the souls encounter with the
Absolute.

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