By Sadia Dehlvi
Twice a year, I travel to Sahranpur to the dargah of Shaykh Inamur Rahman, the Master of My Master. From Sahranpur, I usually try to go to Kaliyar Sharif, near Roorkie, which takes less than an hour. Hazrat Alauddin Ali Ahmad Sabir Kaliyari is an outstanding Chishti Sufis. Sabir Sahab’s dargah is a large serene compound, visited by myriads of pilgrims throughout the year.
After Sabir Sahab’s father died, his mother Jamila Khatun had entrusted him in the care of Baba Farid, her brother. The Sufi put his nephew in charge of the community kitchen of his khanqah at Ajodhan. After some years Alauddin’s mother returned to find him very weak and asked her brother the reason for the poor physical condition.
Baba Farid thought this could not be for the lack of food since the boy’s duty was in the kitchen. The young mystic provided the explanation, ‘True, I was in charge of distributing the food but I was not told that I could eat from it.’ On hearing this, Baba Farid awarded him the title of Sabir, the Patient One.
Barring some legends and anecdotes, little is recorded of the life of Sabir Sahab. Baba Farid sent him to Kaliyar in the year 1253 AD where he spent all his time in meditation, gaining a reputation for piety and asceticism. Large number of devotees began to seek his prayers. Feeling threatened, the local clerics began to indulge in conspiracies against him.
One Friday, Sabir Sahab went to the local mosque. The conspirators ensured that the mystic did not get a place to stand for prayer. It is said that Sabir Sahab’s wrath led to the destruction of the mosque, which collapsed, wiping out everything around it except a guler, berry tree. Subsequently, a plague gripped Kaliyar, taking a heavy toll of life, and the city became deserted. On learning of the devastation, the Sultan of Delhi, Naseeruddin Mahmud Shah, pleaded with Baba Farid for protection from Sabir Sahab’s jalal, wrath. Sabir Sahab’s spiritual mentor advised the emperor to stay miles away from Kaliyar.
Shaykh Sabir meditated in standing position under the guler tree, for 12 years. No one had the courage to approach him or ask him to sit. Baba Farid was worried about his disciple, and enquired if anyone could induce the Shaykh out of the standing position. Shamsuddin Turk, a mystic from Panipat, volunteered and traveled to Kaliyar. Fearing the Shaykh’s wrath, he stood at a distance and began to recite the Quran. Moved by the recital, Sabir Sahab signalled him to sit down, but Shamsuddin replied, ‘How can I sit while an esteemed Shaykh stands?’ Shaykh Alauddin let go of the tree’s bough and finally sat down. The guler tree still stands at the spot, with devotees lighting candles around it and eating the fruit to invoke the Sufi’s blessings.
After spending over three decades in Kaliyar, Sabir Sahab died in 1291 AD. It is believed that the veiled person, who offered his funeral prayers, was none other than the Sufi himself with his spiritual presence.
The exact place of his grave remained unknown for over a hundred years. It was said that the mystic’s wrath had burnt those who ventured anywhere near it. Eventually, the Chishti Sufi Abdul Qudoos Gangohi discovered the site of the tomb in the fifteenth century. While he swept the grave of his grandfather in the adjoining graveyard, he heard Shaykh Alauddin’s voice asking for his grave to be swept too. The mystic from Gangohi meditated and prayed at the site of Shaykh Alauddin’s grave for 40 days. He pleaded with the Sufi to shower benevolence on people. Shaykh Alauddin finally shunned his wrath and devotees in large numbers began to flock to Kaliyar.
The Chishti Sabri Order had spread through Shamsuddin Turk of Panipat, the sole khalifa of Shaykh Alauddin Sabir. The Delhi Sultan, Ibrahim Lodhi, built a mausoleum over the grave of the exalted mystic. Kaliyar is in the present-day district of Hardwar, where the Urs celebrations are held each year on 13 Rabi ul awwal, third month of the Islamic calendar.
