Nearly two decades ago, at one Urs I asked Khwaja to bless me with a child, and my son was born soon after. My eighteen-year-old lad is a musically talented child, a gift that I believe is from the Sufi Master. Each year we, both, make an annual pilgrimage to Ajmer for the Urs and bow our heads in gratitude to Khwaja. Along with thousands of other aashiqs, lovers, I queue for long hours to touch the threshold.

After offering a chadar, sheet, on the tomb, I pour my heart out to Khwaja. Sitting in the Begum Dalan, the pillared marble porch constructed by Jehanara, the eldest daughter of the Mughal Emperor Shahjehan, I listen to qawaalis and try absorbing the nur, radiance, flowing from the gumbad, dome. Every sunrise and sunset, thousands of little birds miraculously arrive from all directions on the tree adjacent to the tomb in time for the prayers and then fly off again, never shedding their droppings on Khwaja’s white dome. I envy their ability to fly across the desert hills each day to sing praises of Khwaja e Khwajgaan, the Master of all Masters.

Numerous miracles are attributed to Khwaja Moinuddun Gharib Nawaz, Patron of the Poor, regarding his arrival at Ajmer during the rule of the Rajput king Prithvi Raj Chauhan. According to popular belief, the Queen Mother’s knowledge of astronomy and occult predicted Khwaja’s arrival 12 years earlier. Images of him were drawn and distributed to officers instructing them to ban the Sufi’s entry into the kingdom. At Samana (the old state of Patiala) some Rajput officials recognized Khwaja and requested him to stay in the palace.

Khwaja then had a vision of Prophet Muhammad warning him of his impending betrayal; he continued his journey to Ajmer with a group of 40 followers. When the party wanted to rest under some trees, the local camel keepers did not permit, insisting that the spot was exclusively marked for the king’s camels.The group led by Khwaja eventually found shelter near the Anasagar Lake. The next day, the camels that had rested under those trees refused to move. The perturbed king ordered the camel keepers to seek Khwaja’s pardon, after which they found that the animals were back on their feet.

Another legend recounts that the Brahmins once prevented Khwaja and his followers from using the waters of the Anasagar Lake for their ablutions. Khwaja asked a devotee to collect some water from the lake in a small bowl. While the bowl continued to fill up, the waters of the lake dried up completely. Only when the officials and local people pleaded for forgiveness did water return to the lake. However, it is not for miracles, but his teachings of humanity for which Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is honoured. He laid down the principles of the Chishti Order preaching that the way to God lay in developing ‘ocean-like generosity, sun-like bounty and earth-like humility’.

Born in Sistan, Khwaja grew up in Khurasan where his parents had migrated. Orphaned at an early age, the young lad earned his living from an orchard inherited from his father. One day as he tended to the fruit trees, Khwaja saw the Sufi Ibrahim Qunduzi pass by and requested that he rest under the shade of a tree in his garden. After eating some grapes, the Sufi took some seeds out of his mouth and placed them in Khwaja’s mouth. It created an illuminating spiritual experience for Khwaja, who sold all his possessions and embraced the mystic path.

After spending some years in Samarqand and Bukhara, the Sufi aspirant sought guidance from Shaykh Usman of Harwan who soon appointed the young Khwaja as his spiritual successor. Together, they travelled to Makkah and Madinah where Shaykh Usman prayed for the disciple’s success. While they stood under the canopy of the Kaaba, a heavenly voice proclaimed, ‘O Moinuddin, I am pleased with you and have accepted you. Ask for whatever you desire and it shall be granted’.  Khwaja replied, ‘O Allah, accept those murid, followers who follow me and those who descend from me.’ The Divine voice replied in affirmation of the plea for Khwaja would often say, ‘I will not step into paradise without those who follow me and my spiritual successors’.

The title of Gharib Nawaz, Patron of the Poor was bestowed on Khwaja in Madinah. Once while offering greetings and salutations to Prophet Muhammad saying, ‘As salaam o alayka ya Rasul Allah’, he heard the reply, ‘Va alaikum as salaam ya Gharib Nawaz.’ While at the Prophet’s city, Khwaja received inspiration in his heart to settle in the Indian town of Ajmer, a place he had not heard of till then.

Khwaja first set out for Baghdad where he met with leading Sufis of the time. He then travelled to Herat through Hamdhan, by which time his fame began to attract large crowds. In search of solitude, Khwaja left for Ghazna from where he reached Lahore, spending 40 days meditating at the dargah of Usman Ali Ibn Hujwiri, popularly known as Datta Ganj Baksh.

Finally Khwaja arrived in Ajmer where he established the first Chishti centre in the sub-continent. Khwaja defined the highest form of devotion as, ‘Redressing the misery of those in distress, fulfilling the needs of the helpless and feeding the hungry.’ He stressed on the renunciation of wealth, encouraging self-vigil and prayer, advocating respect for all religions. The mystic belief in the Oneness of God defined his humanitarian approach to life.

Khwaja did not differentiate between love, the lover, and the beloved. He believed that while the Hajjis, pilgrims, walked around the Kaaba—those with Divine knowledge circled the heart, for God resides in the hearts of those who love Him. Khwaja’s inclusive message of peace and brotherhood brought hundreds of thousands to the fold of Islam. He had a great fondness for music, and sama mehfils held at his khanqah attracted both mystics and commoners.

Khwaja died on 6 Rajab 633 Hijri/ 1236 AD; his mortal remains were buried in Ajmer. That night various people dreamt of Prophet Muhammad saying, ‘I have come to receive Moinuddin al Hasan, the friend of Allah.’ and it is said that these words appeared on Khwaja’s forehead: ‘The Lover of Allah died in the love of Allah.’