Shaykh Jamaluddin of Hansi was both a scholar and a poet. Before he
became the Khwaja’s disciple, he had been a rich man, but later renounced
all material comforts for the sake of spiritual gain.The Khwaja trusted him
in all matters, even authorizing him to endorse the
khilafat namas
issued to
the disciples by the Khwaja.Two of his books,
Mulhimat
, a collection of Sufi
aphorisms written inArabic, and his
Diwan,
written in Persian, have survived.
Shaykh Jamaluddin used to visit the Khwaja in Ajodhan throughout his
life time.When he became very old and could not travel himself, he used to
send his maidservant to present his respects to the Khwaja. After Shaykh
Jamaluddin died, the maidservant brought the Shaykh’s son, Burhanuddin,
to Baba Farid. To her and everyone else’s great surprise, he made him his
khalifah
.When it was pointed out to him that Badruddin was very young,
Baba Farid replied that the crescent of Islam was also small.
10
Shaykh Arif was another
khalifah
, who was deputed to Sind. Finding
himself unable to perform the requisite duties, he came to Baba Farid,
asking to be excused. Baba Farid then advised him to go on a pilgrimage.
Another
khalifah
was the famous Sufi, Shaykh Alauddin Ali Sabir, the
founder of the Sabiri branch of the Chishti order. His tomb is in Kaliyar,
near Roorkee in U.P.
However, the most famous of them all was Shaykh Nizamuddin Awliya.
Shaykh Nizamuddin Awliya
Shaykh Nizamuddin Awliya (1238-1325), the celebrated
khalifah
of Baba
Farid, was and remains one of the most popular mystics of medieval India.
His grandfather migrated to India from Bhukhara in Central Asia and settled
10
Siyar al Awliya, pp. 178-84
