ascertain the attitude of the Suhrawardi order on this issue. The exchange
of letters as well as the conversation between the two, held when they met
at a
mahzar
in Delhi, is recorded in
Surus us Sudur
. Apparently Hamidudin
told Bahauddin: “Wealth is a serpent and one who stores wealth in fact rears
a serpent.” Shaykh Bahauddin, who was very rich, as his order interpreted
austerity differently from the Chishtis, was not convinced by this argument
and replied: “Your achievement as a dervish is not endowed by such beauty
and elegance as to be immune from the evil eye, but our achievements as
dervishes are endowed with such great beauty as to cause no harm, even if
the whole of the world’s blackness were applied to its face.” Shaykh
Hamiduddin ended the dispute by saying that the Suharwardis’ achievements
as dervishes were not higher than those of the Prophet Muhammad, who
had often remarked that his poverty was his pride. The conclusiveness of
this argument left Shaykh Bahauddin speechless.
4
Shayh Hamiduddin shunned fame. He once observed: “The Sufis who
seek fame in their own lifetime were soon forgotten, while those who
refrain from worldly fame and honour achieve long-lasting fame on their
death.”
5
He considered self-effacement a prerequisite for communion with
God. True peace could be attained only by divine grace and, to secure
divine grace, the renunciation of all worldly concerns was a sine qua non.
Shaykh Hamiduddin died in November 1274 and was buried in Nagaur.
Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq built a tomb over his grave.
Spiritual Disciples of Hamiduddin Nagauri
A number of Shaykh Hamiduddin’s descendants continued his mission
and Nagaur developed into a strong centre of Sufism. This was to a great
extent due to Khwaja Husain Nagaur, a descendant of Shaykh Hamiduddin.
4
Surur us Sudur, pp. 86-87
5
Fawaidul Fuad, pp.. 4-5
Th e Ch i s h t i Or d e r 72
