to them for his elevation, maintained good relations with the religious and
spiritual leaders. He used to shower gifts on them, but Shaykh Nasiruddin
continued to live the same life of poverty and austerity as before. When
Sultan Feroz visited him, the Shaykh did not accord him any special treatment.
One day, while the Shaykh was engaged in solitary meditation, he was
stabbed so grievously by a
qalandar
named Turab that the blood from his
wound flowed all over the floor of his room. His disciples wanted to punish
the
qalandar
, but he restrained them, saying that he had already forgiven
him. The Shaykh survived the attack and his prayers and fasting continued
as usual. He died three years later in September 1356.
Shaykh Nasiruddin had a large number of disciples, but either he did not
consider any one of them worthy enough of inheriting the relics of his
pir
,
Shaykh Nizamuddin, or he did not want to part with them, even after his
death. So, according to his will, the relics were buried with his body. The
khirqa
was placed on his ribs, the staff was laid beside his body, his rosary
wound around his forefinger, his bowl placed under his head and the wooden
sandals on his chest. His final message to his disciples was:
“Everyone has to bear the burden of his own faith.There is no question of
bearing the burden of others.”
Sultan Feroz built a tomb over his grave and the area where it is situated
is known as Chiragh-i-Dilli.
The teachings of Shaykh Nasiruddin have been preserved in a book written
by Hamid Qalandar and are known as
Khair-ul-Majaalis
. By that time, the
tenets of the Chishti philosophy had already been fully developed.
There were two categories of followers. The first category was made
up of the common people, who were expected to do some
wadifas
given to
Th e Ch i s h t i Or d e r 98
