Ghujduwani (d. 1220), a successor of Hamadani.This vision amounted to a
second initiation, for Ghujduwani enjoined Bahauddin to practice the silent
dhikr
exclusively, as opposed to the
dhikr
spoken aloud (
dhikr bil jehr
) in
which his master and other disciples used to engage.
1
This scandalized his
co-travellers on the Sufi path but finally his Shaykh, as-Samasi himself,
allowed him to follow his way.
After his mentor’s death, Bahauddin left Samas for Samarqand, visiting
Bhukhara and a number of other towns. The Sufis were well-known for
their contempt of worldly life and their commitment to the quest for truth
and spirituality. Those could be, of course, found in the study of books.
Books were certainly of great value, for they prepared one to become
receptive to truth and spirituality. However, the Sufis preferred to follow
the tradition of wandering from place to place in search of individuals who
‘realized God’, so that they might learn from their actual spiritual
experience. They believed that spiritual knowledge was transfered from
heart to heart, the only proviso being that the owner of the heart possessed
the required receptivity, for without it he might not recognize spirituality
when it was bestowed. Actual journeys for spiritual ends were facilitated
by the fact that the seekers carried no worldly possessions which could
pose an obstacle to their search.
Bahauddin took the same route and went from place to place in search
of enlightened souls who could show him the spiritual path. In the course of
his mystic apprenticeship, he even grazed herds for several years.The purpose
of this varied, itinerant training was to build up a sense of service, and awaken
the feelings of love, compassion and generosity, which were considered
necessary for the seeker. The last years of his life were spent in his own
home town near Bhukhara. He died in his native village in 1389.
1
see:Algar, H.,
Naqshband
, EI,(?) Leiden, 1961
