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9. Hazrat Yusuf Hamadani h


[ to be translated in English ]

جس طرف اُٹھے نظرآۓ نظر تیرا جمال
[ to be translated in English ] یوسفِ ہمداں حسین ومہ لقا کے واسطے

- Extracts from Sijra-ay-Tayyiba - Shiekh Syed Mahmood Hassan Rizvi (Rehmat'ullah Alaiyh)
حضرت سیدمیاں محمّد حسن محمود رضوی نقشبدی مجددی عزیزی رحمتاالله علیه

Translation to English by Anwar-un-Nabi [please forgive any mistakes]

Hazrat Abū Ya’qūb Khwājā Yūsuf al-Hamadānī quddisa sirruh (440-535 AH) was an exalted shaykh of this noble path, from whom many of the well-known Sufi masters benefited. His deputies founded the Naqshbandiyyah, Yasaviyyah and Bektāshiyyah tariqahs, and founders of the Qadri and Chishti orders also benefited from his company.

He was born in 440 AH (1048) at Būzanjird, near Hamadān (present-day Iran). He received traditional education in Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, Hadith, Tafsir and philosophy. He was a follower of the great Imam Abū Hanīfā. Later he was trained in the Sufi path by Khwājā Abū Alī Fārmadī, who is also known to be the Sufi master of Imam Ghazali.

Abu Ya`qub Yusuf ibn Ayyab ibn Yusuf ibn al-Husayn al-Hamadani
May Allah Sanctify His Soul

"Think not that there are no travelers on the road,
or that those of perfect attribute leave no trace.
Just because you are not privy to the secrets,
Do you think that no one else is either?"

Rumi, Fihi ma fihi.

He was one of the rarest Knowers of God, a Pillar in the Sunnah of the Prophet and a unique saint. He was an imam (religious leader), an `alim (religious scholar), and a `arif (spiritual knower of God). He was the master of his time in raising the stations of his followers. Scholars and pious people used to flood in huge numbers into his khaniqah (retreat) in the city of Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan, to listen to him.

It is narrated by ‘Umar bin al-Khattāb that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said:

"Among Allāh’s servants there are some who are neither prophets nor martyrs but on the Day of Judgement the prophets and the martyrs will envy their grades. The Companions asked: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, tell us, who are those people?’ He replied: ‘those are the people who love one another on Allāh’s count. They are neither related to one another nor do they have any property to exchange. I swear on Allāh that they will have faces of light,they will be on pulpits of light. They will not have any fear when others will be afraid, they will not have any grief when others will be aggrieved.’ Then he recited the verse: Beware! No doubt, there is no fear for the friends of Allāh nor shall they be sad and sorrowful. "

[Qur’ān (Yūnus, Jonah) 10:62.]

Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, b. of ijārah (wages) 3:288 (#3527); Bayhaqī, Shu‘ab-ul-īmān, (6:486#8998,8999); Khatīb Tabrīzī, Mishkāt-ul-masābīh, b. of adab (good manners) ch.16 (3:75-6#5012).  [src: Ch3 of Beseeching for Help, Tahir-ul-Qadri]