KARAMAAT (MINI-MIRACLES)

Definition of Karamat

"Karamat" constitutes that supra-normal happening which is related neither to the period of Prophethood nor to the period before it. It emanates from a person who is outwardly and inwardly righteous, follows an apostle/Prophet and adheres to his Shariah and holds the right beliefs and performs virtuous deeds. Simply, Karamat is that which emanates from Awlia Allah (Friends of Allah). Its purpose should be to attain steadfastness and constancy of good conduct. There is no Karamat better than that which instills in a person the love of Allah, a desire to attain His pleasure, and a true yearning for piety and constancy.

Hazrat’s views about miracles and mini-miracles                                                 

On the subject of miracles (of Prophet) and mini-miracles (of Awlia-Allah), Hazrat Syedna Pir Meher Ali Shah (R.A) observed that problems pertaining to this subject could not be properly resolved by philosophers and logicians. The Divine Will, he said, is enforced in this world in two distinct ways: 

(i) preponderantly in accordance with the normal practice and precedent, and 

(ii) in rare cases, contrary to such practice and precedent. The latter cases find expression in miracles and mini-miracles, and it is difficult to fathom their reality or to explain them in the light of normal principles and criteria. 

It would, however, be wrong to deny them simply because they cannot be grasped by ordinary common-sense or do not conform to normal logical principles. As he traverses successive higher stages  along “the path”, the “Salik” gradually comes to acquire attributes of a divine character, and this helps invest him with the capacity to influence the occurrence and trend of events in particular ways. In support of this observation, Hazrat (R.A) referred to the hadith-e-qudsi (divinely inspired hadith) in which Allah declares: ”A stage comes when a man seeking My pleasure becomes, through constant worship and prayer, so close to Me that I become his eyes, ears, and hands, through which he sees, hears, and grasps things”.

Hazrat Pir Meher Ali Shah (R.A) - A masterpiece of Divine Creation

Hazrat (R.A) ranked among highly rare personalities blessed by Allah with Karamat. His personality was a rare blend of physical beauty and beauty of character, which made him the beloved of all who came into contact with him. Instances of such beautifully-rounded personalities have been exceedingly rare in human history.

The physical - a reflection of the inner grandeur

In the case of Hazrat, inner spiritual beauty was reflected in outward physical beauty of rare order. The result was that people were attracted towards him if by a magnet. A light that defied description permeated their souls at the very sight of him, thereby providing a tacit commentary on the following Quranic verses:

Translation: "On those who believe and work righteous deeds (Allah)  the Beneficent will bestow love (His own love, and the love of man’s fellow creatures)."        (XIX, 96)  

Translation: "Therefore, remember Me, I will remember you."     (II, 152)

Even Non-Muslims were overcome by feelings of admiration and awe in Hazrat’s presence. A group of Hindus from Madras (South India), for example, was once compelled to exclaim after meeting and paying their respects to Hazrat: “Oh, what majesty and grandeur!"

The miracle of knowledge derived directly from God’s own presence  

Another grand miracle of Hazrat (R.A) was the limitless treasure of knowledge which Allah had bestowed upon him, and which made use of whenever the occasion so demanded. The jewels of this knowledge are strewn in abundance in his writings as well as his recorded sayings (Malfoozaat). Haji Rahmatullah Muhajir of Makkah himself a most distinguished scholar of Islam, once described Hazrat’s knowledge as ‘Ilm-e-ladunni' (knowledge from God’s own presence i.e., knowledge imparted directly by God through mystic intuition).

Qazi Qudratullah of Peshawar (nick named Qazi Qadru by Afghans), and eminent scholar who made annual visits to Afghanistan and Khorasan to preach to the Kings there, was compelled to acknowledge defeat in a debate with Hazrat on the subject of Sama (devotional music) and to seek Hazrat’s bai’at. Similarly, Maulana Nazir Ahmad, a well known munazir (debater) of India, was obliged to request Hazrat to enroll him as a pupil following a meeting with Hazrat in Kaliar Sharif.

The abiding Karamat of noble lineage

Besides physical beauty and superior knowledge, Hazrat (R.A) had been blessed by Allah with the inalienable gift of noble lineage. From his father’s side, he was a descendent of Syedna Imam Hassan (R.A) son of Syedna Ali (R.A) and the Holy Prophet’s (P.B.U.H) daughter Fatimah-az-Zahra (R.A), and from that of his mother a descendent of Syedna Imam Hussain son of Syedna Ali (R.A) and Syedah Fatima (R.A) – the immortal Martyr of Karbala. He was a Gilani Syed, descendent in the 25^th generation of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (R.A). Yet, far from resting on these laurels and being content with this God-given honour, Hazrat (R.A) spent his whole life in living up to the high standards of conduct which the lineage / shariah imposed upon him. Every moment of his life was thus devoted to the remembrance of Allah, to the teaching and preaching of religion, service of his fellow-beings, and advancing the cause of Islam and Islamic Ummah.

An idea of Hazrat’s devotional schedule may be had from the fact that for thirty long years, Hazrat said his Fajr (morning) prayers with ablutions performed after the Isha prayers of the previous night. Most of the intervening period of the night was spent by him in quiet recitations and meditation in kneeling posture generally termed as marakabah in mystic idiom.

Establishment of Pakistan

As mentioned earlier, Hazrat-e-Ala Pir Meher Ali Shah (R.A) never took part in active politics.

During the period of Istighraq, Hazrat (R.A) had one day made this observation in the presence of Maulana Mahboob Alam and another devotee – “ In the near future, this part of the country will be dominated by the Muslims”. Pointing towards the east, he then added: “ Muslims of that region will, however, face a grave calamity”. These predictions came true when Pakistan emerged on the map of the world in August 1947, and its emergence was followed by wide-spread communal riots in Eastern Punjab in which hundreds of thousands of Muslims were thrown out of their age-old hearths and homes by Hindus and Sikhs, and large numbers of them were brutally slaughtered by them.

The 1965 India Pakistan War

Once a Murid of well-known spiritual leader Mian Sher Muhammad of Sharaqpur and a staunch admirer of Hazrat, narrated during a visit to Golra Sharif in August 1965, in connection with the Urs of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam (R.A), that he had seen Hazrat in a dream and had heard him declare to a large audience in a speech that Allah shall grant victory to the Muslim armed forces. Five other eminent spiritual personalities were also occupying chairs on the stage at the time. On his request, these were identified as Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam (R.A) - The Chairman, Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (R.A) of Ajmer, Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (R.A) of Delhi, Khwaja Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar (R.A) of Pakpattan and Khwaja Nizamuddin Awlia (R.A), also of Delhi.

Only a few days after his narration, war broke out between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir front, and was followed by a full-scale attack on Pakistan by the Indian Army on the border between the east and west Punjab on 6^th September 1965. the war witnessed some amazing victories by Pakistan’s armed forces over the many times larger Indian army. It ended with a mutually agreed ceasefire brokered by the then U.S.S.R, but not before the Indian army had suffered casualties and other losses ten times greater than those suffered by Pakistan.

The wide ranging spiritual benefaction of Hazrat - some indicators     

Some incidents which may serve as indicators of the exceptionally wide range of Hazrat’s spiritual benefactions outflow are cited below:

i)          Hazrat as Ra’is-ul-Hajjaj (Chief of Pilgrims)

It is believed among mystic circles that during every year’s Hajj, one of the Hujjaj (Pilgrims) is spiritually awarded the title of Ra’is-ul-Hajjaj, in recognition of his outstanding scholarly and spiritual eminence. In the year when Hazrat performed Hajj, one Syed Lal Shah Naqshbandi of Dandah Shah Bilawal, District Campellpur (now renamed Attock) of the Punjab, who also happened to be in Makkah for Hajj, tried to find out through maraqbah (spiritual observation) as to who among that year’s assembly of pilgrims had been conferred the honour of being the Ra'is-ul-Hajjaj. As he did so, he saw the Holy Kaabah circling round Hazrat Syedna Pir Meher Ali Shah (R.A), and saw also that the Hajj performances of all other pilgrims were being presented to Allah, and being Divinely approved, through the intermediacy of Hazrat. This convinced Syed Lal Shah that the unique honour had been bestowed upon Hazrat that year.

ii)         Pir Syed Abbas Ali Shah Bukhari, an eminent spiritual personality now buried at Sandah Khurdh in the suburbs of Lahore, who had wandered round in several cities of India during his life time was once awakened from sleep by a destitute majzub late on a rainy winter night in Bombay. The majzub requested a cup or two of hot tea, which Syed Abbas Ali Shah prepared instantly and offered to him. Going back to sleep after the majzub’s departure, Syed Abbas saw an exceedingly angelic looking person in dream, who said to him: “I thank you for giving a cup of tea to my fakir”. Twice he went back to sleep again but each time the dream repeated itself. Enamoured by the uniquely charming face of his dream visitor and having failed to trace the majzub in the streets of Bombay, Syed Abbas set out in search of him and traveled to several provinces in his quest without success. Finally, he reached Lahore but having failed even there to find the object of his search he was preparing to leave for Bombay by train, when some one he met at the railway station advised him to go to Golra. When he did so and saw Hazrat (R.A), he immediately recognized him as the person he had seen in his dream. Hazrat greeted him warmly as if he too identified him. Syed Abbas stayed in Golra for a few days and then returned home after having achieved his spiritual mission.

iii)        Hafiz Ghulam Samadani once requested Hazrat to pray for the business success of his father, who had been awarded a contract by the then Afghan Government for the supply of forest wood in the south of Afghanistan. Instead of praying, Hazrat asked him whether there was peace in Afghanistan. When the latter met Hazrat again after some time with the same request, Hazrat repeated his earlier question. Outwardly, there was indeed peace in Afghanistan at the time, but soon thereafter rebel Bacha Saqqa attacked Kabul, forced King Amanullah Khan to flee the country, and there was wide spread bloodshed in Kabul. Ghulam Samadani met Hazrat again after his development whereupon Hazrat prayed for the safety of his relatives then living in Kabul. Some time later, Samadani went to pay his respects to a well-known majzub in Kabul, who revealed that his Shaikh, i.e., Hazrat, had spiritually protected Kabul from total destruction in that fateful moment of agony.

iv)         Afghan national once visited Hazrat in his sitting room. As soon as he saw Hazrat, he said in pashto language that he had seen Hazrat on horseback in the battle field during the armed fight of the Mullah of Haddah against the British. When the interpreter told Hazrat (R.A) what the Afghani was saying, Hazrat dismissed him as being out of his mind. The man, however, continued to insist on oath that he had in fact seen Hazrat there, thereby probably divulging a spiritual secret which Hazrat (R.A) wished to conceal. A similar narration was made by two other men from two different quarters.

v)         Haji Muhammad Ayub Sethi of Peshawar was once traveling in a bus in Iran. As he dosed off during his journey, he saw Hazrat in dream warning him to have the bus stopped instantly since a deep ditch lay immediately ahead. The bus was immediately stopped, and it was revealed that there was in fact a ditch only a few yards ahead the bus was saved from falling into it just in time.

vi)        Ghulam Rasul Khan, Deputy Superintendent in the Central Intelligence Department under the British, and a devotee of Hazrat, was once traveling by steamer, when Hazrat asked him in dream to leave the ship at the next re-fueling station. Ghulam Rasul Khan did as Hazrat had directed him. A few hours later, on SOS was received from the ship indicating that the ship was sinking due to a sudden mishap.

vii)       On another occasion, the same Ghulam Rasul Khan was saved due to a warning given by Hazrat in dream one night that a gang of Sikh dacoits whom he was interrogating in connection with a charge of robbery against them had plotted to kill him. Ghulam Rasul Khan immediately hid himself on the top of a near by tree. Not long thereafter, the said gang came to his room to carry out their plot but had to go away disappointed on not finding him in his bed.

viii)       On still another occasion, Hazrat informed Ghulam Rasul Khan, then on official duty in Russia, in dream that his house in Hong Kong had been burgled. Enquiry over the wireless confirmed this and also revealed that the burglars had been nabbed by the local police.

ix)         Pir Wilayat Shah Sahib, Hazrat’s younger brother, was once preparing to leave by train for some distant place to participate in a wedding ceremony to which he had been invited. When he was informed of this, Hazrat firmly forbade him to do so. It later transpired that the train by which Pir Wilayat Shah Sahib had planned to travel met with a serious accident in which several lives were lost.

In such matters, the real force at work is doubtless the Will of Allah. In the world of cause and effects, however, His Will is often effectuated through the intermediacy of chosen men of Allah.

Fulfillment of prayers, and spiritual succour of devotees

Several remarkable instances are record concerning the fulfillment of Hazrat’s prayers for the alleviation of problems and difficulties confronting some of his devotee and admirers.

These include:

i)  The succession cases of Divan Said Muhammad of Pakpattan Sharif and Sahibzadah Mehmood of Taunsa Sharif, both of which were decided in their favour by the Privy Council in London (then the highest appellate), thanks to Hazrat’s prayers;

ii) The property case of Sardar Muhammad ‘Azim Khan Golra, which was decided in his favour by the Chief court of Punjab, again as a result of Hazrat’s special prayers; A Fakir Sahib of the village where the property was located had sent a message to Hazrat that he had seen in the Lawh-e-Mahfuz (The Guarded Tablet where all past and future events are recorded) that the property in question would be awarded to a murid of his and not to ‘Azim Khan, and that therefore Hazrat should not waste his time praying for ‘Azim Khan. To this, Hazrat’ had replied that while he laid no claim to being able to see the Lawh-e-Mahfuz, he would not stop knocking at the door of his Creator until the property had been awarded to ‘Azim Khan. The case was finally decided in ‘Azim Khan’s favour.

iii) The case of one Muhammad Hussain of Maira Badiyah, whose release was ordered just when he was about to be hanged on a murder charge after his mercy petition had been rejected earlier by the concerned court; (Hazrat had prayed for his release through the intermediacy of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam (R.A), on being moved by the entreaties of his mother).

iv) The cases of succession struggle of Amir Habib Ullah Khan, ruler of Afghanistan, Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan of Bahawalpur Princely state of India, and the Nawab Sahib of Amb Darband State, all of which were decided in their respective favours due to Hazrat’s prayers for them.

Some other miraculous happenings

a)   Malik Sher Muhammad Tiwana, a sincere devotee of Hazrat, was once sentenced to six years in jail in connection with some lawsuit. All appeals against this conviction were rejected by the higher courts. In reply to a request for prayers, Hazrat (R.A) wrote a letter to the head of the family reassuring him that all would be well by the Grace of Allah. Soon thereafter, Queen Victoria, then Empress of India, passed away, and a general amnesty was granted to all prisoners in celebration of the coronation of her son and successor, Edward the Seventh. Malik Sher Muhammad was released as a part of this amnesty and was later promoted to an even higher post in government service than before his conviction.

b)   A person who had lost his eyesight due to some illness once met Hazrat and requested him to pray for the restoration of his vision. Since Hazrat was then preparing to leave for Pakpattan Sharif, he prayed for the man and asked him to return home. As the man left for home by train the next day, he suddenly found his sight restored on his way to the railway station.

c)   A Syed gentlemen belonging to the outskirts of Khushab was once disabled by an attack of paralysis. He was brought to Golra Sharif and Hazrat (R.A) continued to pray for his recovery for several weeks. Finding that his condition did not improve, Hazrat (R.A) told him that the destined time for his recovery had probably not yet arrived, and asked him to return home in the mean time.

      Sometime later, Hazrat (R.A) happened, during a train journey en route to Sial Sharif, to spot the aforesaid person among the group of people who had come for his Ziarah at the Khushab Railway Station. Hazrat (R.A) then raised his hands in prayer, and people were astonished to see that the person was instantly cured of his long time disability and was able to walk away without any support from the railway station.

d)   Syed Imam Shah, an eminent religious scholar of Oldham and a sincere devotee of Hazrat (R.A), was once afflicted by a severe and persistent toothache, which did not respond to continued treatment. He came to Golra Sharif and told Hazrat (R.A) that he had severe dental pain. Hazrat repeated Imam Shah’s own words three times and prayed for him. To everyone’s surprise, the toothache was immediately cured by this rather unusual prayer of Hazrat.

e)   In a number of cases, Hazrat’s (R.A) prayers caused the grant of male off-spring, birth and survival of children to despairing parents, and similar other boons to sincere devotees.

f)    Hazrat’s younger daughter once happened to fall into an open water well inside the residential quarters. She was, however, miraculously saved by an invisible hand (identified by the young lady as that of Hazrat himself) which caught her in mid-air, and lifting her placed her carefully on the edge of the well.

g)   Khan Bahadur Ghulam Rasul Khan, Deputy superintendent of Police once expressed a strong desire to go to Baghdad for the Ziarah of the Holy shrine of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam. In rare generous moment, Hazrat observed that the Ziarah could be achieved even while sitting in Golra, with the result that Deputy Ghulam Rasul immediately saw the shrine of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam right before his eyes.

In another similar incident, Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Ghotavi was graced by a Ziarah of Syedna Ghaus-e-Azam “in person” through Hazrat’s spiritual intervention.

h)   Abdul Karim Sethi, a very ardent devotee of Hazrat from Peshawar, once accompanied Hazrat on his daily outing to a nearby spot after evening prayers. Sitting at some distance from Hazrat, Abdul Karim suddenly saw a crowd of strange looking creatures around Hazrat. Frightened at this scene Abdul Karim covered his eyes with his hands and lay down on the ground. Thereupon, Hazrat dismissed the group of creatures (who were in fact jinns) from his presence and reassured Abdul Karim by explaining the correct position.

i)    In a couple of cases, the bitter-tasting water of a well was turned sweet and a dried up well swelled through Hazrat’s prayers.

j)    A young village boy of Peshawar area suddenly lost his speech while grazing goats in nearby valley. On the supplication of his parents, Hazrat prayed for the boy and his speech was instantly restored.

k)   Hafiz Ghulam Hussain, a devotee from Rawat a few miles away from Rawalpindi, once came to Golra to pay his respects to Hazrat. Hazrat prayed for him but then asked him to return home immediately. Rather surprised at this unusual bidding of Hazrat, Ghulam Hussain immediately left. The secret of Hazrat’s bidding, was revealed when a messenger from home met him on the way and told him that his father was on the verge of death. Ghulam Hussain was thus enabled to reach home in time to have the consolation of seeing his dying father before he breathed his last.

l)    An authentic hadith of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) says this of truly pious and Holy men: “When one looks at them, one is reminded of Allah”. In the line with this hadith, Hazrat Shaikh Muhyuddin Ibn-ul-Arabi (R.A) makes this observation about the sure sign of an accomplished Pir: “If you have any difficulty in identifying such a person, know ye that anyone who makes you forget all about worldly things and makes you of Allah alone, is the perfect Pir”.

      Taking a cue from these sayings, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi says in his famous Mathnavi: 

Translation: "A short period in the company of Awlia- Allah is better than a hundred years of true worship."

In line with the foregoing quotes, many errant and wayward people were converted to steadfast piety and virtue by enrolling in bai’at with Hazrat spending sometime off and on in his chaste company. Rarely (if ever) did Hazrat have to verbally exhort or adopt a moralizing attitude.

m)  One Malik Pir Bukhsh Khan Kanju of District Multan narrated that, in line with family tradition, he once took it into his head to “test” whether Hazrat Pir Meher Ali Shah Sahib of Golra Sharif was in fact true Syed off-spring of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) from the side of his father and mother, as popularly believed. The method of carrying out such a “test” was to recite the “Darud Sharif” and then to silently blow out towards the person to be tested behind his back. The popular belief was that if the tested person was indeed a true Syed, he would immediately turn back to look at the person carrying out the test.

Malik Pir Bukhsh decided to conduct this test during one of Hazrat’s visits to Pakpattan in connection with the annual Urs there. He recited the Darud and blew out towards Hazrat when he was preparing to leave the mosque after the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers. The moment he did so, Hazrat (R.A) suddenly turned around, fixed his gaze at Pir Muhammad for some moments, and then resumed his walk. The latter was so taken aback at this gesture of Hazrat (R.A) that he lowered his head in shame and remorse, and returned home without having the courage to go in Hazrat’s presence again.

n)     Recovery of persons virtually on the verge of death

Instances of restoration to life through prayers to persons long dead  record in history as miracles of apostle of Allah, especially those of Jesus Christ (A.S). Similarly, examples of persons being snatched away from the jaws of death through the Karamat (mini miracles) of Awlia Allah have also been fairly common.

 A few incidents, most of which occurred well after Hazrat’s passing away are listed below:

1.   About two years after Hazrat’s passing away, his favourite qawwals Hafiz Nur Muhammad was taken so gravely ill with pneumonia in his village that the doctors gave up all hope of his survival. As his son Khadim Hussain was sitting on his death bed with his head in his lap one night, Nur Muhammad suddenly started chanting the following Persian verse:  

               When his son asked him how his condition had improved so suddenly, Nur Muhammad told him an amazing story. A short while before, he said, Hazrat had appeared to him in person and asked him whether he was ready to come over to the other world or wished to stay on here for some time more. Nur Muhammad told Hazrat he wished to have some respite so that he could celebrate the wedding of his youngest son Farid. Hazrat, he said, had thereupon asked him to recite the Persian verse which his son had heard him chant .On examination the next morning, the doctors were astonished to find that all signs of pneumonia had vanished. Nur Muhammad lived on for another seven years after this episode, and was not only able to wed his son but also to witness the birth of his two grand children.

         2.   The wife of Mian Fazl Ilahi Sethi of Peshawar, a sincere and old time devotee of Hazrat once fell  gravely ill during Hazrat’s lifetime, and all hope of her recovery was lost. Fazl Ilahi prepared to bring her to Golra Sharif so that she could have the privilege of meeting her end and being buried here. When Hazrat learnt about this, he sent a message to Fazl Ilahi not to come to Golra, but instead to shift his wife’s bed to the room where Hazrat used to stay during his occasional visits to Peshawar. This was duly done, and Hazrat blew his breath in that direction after performing some recitations every morning and evening. The sick lady recovered fully from her illness in a few days’ time. 

         3.   In 1960, i.e., “twenty three years” after Hazrat’s passing away, Malik Ghulam Samadani Tiwana fell   victim to a serious illness involving profuse bleeding from his nose and throat. He was taken from his native village to the Mayo Hospital at Lahore, the premier medical house of the day, where the doctors pronounced him beyond recovery. He was then taken to the clinic of an eminent specialist, but as the latter was preparing to examine him, the patient suddenly opened his eyes, sat up in his bed, and signaled to leave his bedside. In a few minutes, his condition improved beyond recognition, and the weakness was sufficiently reduced to enable him to talk. He then told those around him that Hazrat had visited him in person a few moments earlier, had inquired about this health, raised his hands in prayer, asked him to leave hospital, and had then disappeared. Malik Ghulam Samadani was instantly cured of the grave ailment to the doctor’s surprise.

4.   Hazrat’s illustrious only son Hazrat Babuji (R.A) was also once cured of an exceedingly grave illness, which had virtually carried him to the verge of death, through Hazrat’s prayers. Hazrat had initially taken no notice of this illness, had carried on his various activities as usual, and had responded to the entreaties of devotees for prayers by simply asking them to call in the best possible medical help to attend to Babuji. When the latter’s condition failed to improve and assumed alarming proportion, Hazrat was persuaded by a personal appeal from Babuji to come to his bedside, to formally enroll him in his bai’at, and then to closet himself in his room for single-minded prayers to Allah. Immediately thereafter, Babuji sat up on his bed, his condition visibly improved, and with support from a couple of persons repaired to Hazrat’s room to pay his respects. 

Continuance of Karamat after death

It may be observed here that according to truly erudite research scholars, the ensuance of Karamat from Awlia Allah does not cease after their death. Indeed, their spiritual capabilities increase vastly once their spirits are rid of the confines of their physical frames.

Convincingly true disciples of eminent Awlia Allah are known to be blessed in their last moments with spiritual visits from their Murshids in order to ease their pangs of death, and to console them about post-demise happenings. The late Malik Sultan Mehmood, custodian of Hazrat’s correspondence, narrated that letters from dozens of Hazrat’s disciples used to be received in which they mentioned their late relatives having raised their hands in respectful salaam at the time of their death, and having asked those around them to show due respect to Hazrat whom they had seen to arrive at their death-bed.

Divination of transcendental things

Being informed through the Grace of Allah about matters or phenomenon which fall in the category of the invisible or the transcendental is one of the relatively more significant Karamat of Awlia-Allah. Among these, divination of thoughts or intentions still in the minds of other people is even more important. Although these capabilities can be acquired though some occult sciences as well (astrology), there is a vast difference between these and the capabilities divinely bestowed upon the true men of Allah through inspiration and clairvoyance. This is because, according to a well-known Hadith-e-Qudsi (divinely-inspired hadith) Allah’s Wali (friend) sees, hears, walks, and does other tangible things through capabilities gifted to him by Allah Himself. The following hadith of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) also bears this out:

Some of the many incidents of this type involving Hazrat’s spiritual beneficiaries are reproduced below.  

1) According to Hazrat Babuji, a person belonging to Northern India once visited Pakpattan Sharif to pay his respects   at the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Baba Farid-ud-din Ganjshakar (R.A). He also intended to enter into bai’at with the head of the shrine, who is known by the title of Diwan Sahib. Due, however, to some misgivings arising in his mind, he gave up the idea and came instead to Golra Sharif to seek bai’at with Hazrat.

When the man met Hazrat for this purpose, Hazrat divining his unspoken intention, made this observation even before he had said anything: “ How surprising it is that some people hold eminent Awlia Allah and their shrines in deep regards, but show no respect to their off-spring even though their blood runs through every vein and tissue of the latter. Such persons are even worse than Qais, popularly known in history as Majnun (the possessed one), who used to say this reminding him of his beloved Laila who is known to have been dark-skinned like lail (the night):     

The man realized and openly confessed his error.  

2) Once a devotee, father of Maulvi Faiz Ahmad Faiz (the author of book “Meher-e-Munir”, the most famous biography of Hazrat Pir Meher Ali Shah Sahib) was keenly desirous of securing bai’at in the Qadriyah school due to the connection of their ancestors with that school. Towards this end, he visited many shrines but was unable to get spiritual satisfaction at any of them. Once he happened to meet a centenarian dervish named Baba Nur Qadiri who lived in the town of Khasur near Dera Ismail Khan and was widely known for his vision and clairvoyance. This dervish re-assured him that at its own good time he would be able to secure bai’at at the hands of a highly eminent Gilani Wali of the Qadri school, who would also be the Ghaus (the Helper-holder of the highest spiritual station) of his time.

Sometimes later, he had the opportunity to occasionally visit the madressah, and to listen to glowing accounts of Hazrat’s greatness and accomplishments. Soon thereafter, Hazrat happened to pay a visit to the area, and Faiz Ahmad’s father presented himself to Hazrat with a request for bai’at. A large gathering of persons desirous of seeking bai’at with Hazrat was present there on the occasion. Looking at him, Hazrat asked him to come next day. This sorely disappointed him, especially when he learnt from some person there that Hazrat himself was enrolled in the Chishtia school through Khwaja Shamsuddin of Sial Sharif, while he wished to get enrolled in the Qadriyah school in line with the family tradition.

When he visited Hazrat the next day as desired by him, he was most happily surprised to find that Hazrat on his own decided to extend bai’at to him in Qadiri school, and made it clear to him that he was doing so because all members of his family were enrolled in that school, and because he himself had the permission of his Shaikh to enroll people in both the Chishti as well as the Qadiri school.