Shah Inayat Qadri (; – 1728) was a

Punjabi Muslim Punjabi Muslims are Punjabis who are adherents of Islam. With a population of more than 112 million, they are the third-largest predominantly Islam-adhering Muslim ethnicity in the world, after Arabs and Bengalis. The majority of Punjabi Musl ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

scholar,

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and philosopher of the Qadri Shattari ''

silsila ''Silsila'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of :wikt:lineage, lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfe ...

'' (lineage). He mostly wrote his philosophical works in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Shah Inayat Qadiri is famous as the

spiritual guide A spirit guide, in Spiritualism, is an entity that remains as a discarnate spirit to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated individual. Description In traditional African belief systems, well before the spread of Christianity ...

of the universal Punjabi poets

Bulleh Shah Sayyid Abdullāh Shāh Qādrī (; ), popularly known as Baba Bulleh Shah and vocatively as Bulleya, was a Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and Chishti Sufi poet, regarded the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment'; and one of the g ...

and

Waris Shah Pir Waris Shah ( ; 1722 1798) was an 18th-century Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known popularly for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of the ''Heer Ranjha'' love ...

Name

'' Baba'' is an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

term used as a sign of respect. It is a term similar to "father" or "wise old man".Platts, John T. (John Thompson). ''A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English''. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1884. ''

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

'' is another honorific referring to a king.Yarshater, Ehsa
Persia or Iran, Persian or Farsi
, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) ''

Inayat Inayat (, ) is a unisex first name in Middle East and South Asia. It may refer to: ;''People'' * Enayat Khan, sitar and surbahar player. * Fazal Inayat-Khan, grandson of Inayat Khan. * Hidayat Inayat Khan, son of Inayat Khan. * Inayat Hussain Khan, ...

'' is an

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

first name. ''

Qadiri The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is wides ...

'' and '' Shatari'' are Islamic surname for the members of the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is widesp ...

and

Shattariyya The Shattari or Shattariyya are members of a Sufi order that originated in Safavid Iran in the fifteenth century and developed, completed, and codified in India. Later, secondary branches were taken to the Hejaz and to Indonesia. The word Shat ...

tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

s, which are Sufi

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...

order. See Appendix II: The Rapidness. First published in 1964.

Life

Early life and education

Shah Inayat was born in

Kasur Kasur (Punjabi language, Punjabi / ; ; also Romanization, romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to the south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The city s ...

in 1643 (circa), into a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family belonging to the

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

tribe. He was a

scholar and activist associated with the

Shattari The Shattari or Shattariyya are members of a tariqah, Sufi order that originated in Safavid Iran in the fifteenth century and developed, completed, and codified in India. Later, secondary branches were taken to the Hejaz and to Indonesia. The ...

(lineage). Shah Inayat was the son of Mawlawi Pir Mohammad of Kasur, who was an

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Shah Inayat and his disciples

He was the student of Shah Raza and teacher of

and

Persecution and migration

He used to work in Kasur, but because of the animosity of the city's ruler,

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

Hussain Khan, he was forced to migrate to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Work

Shah Inayat is remembered as a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

, a religious scholar, a

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and a

. A brief biographical note on him was published in 1984 in

. Shah Inayat was a scholar of mysticism. He wrote mostly in

and Punjabi. His works include: * ''Dasturul Amal'' * ''Islahul Amal'' * ''Lataif-e-Ghaibya'' * ''Ishartul Taliban''

Notes

References

External links

Dastur ul Amal
on Google Books. * Chopra R. M. (1999) ''Great Sufi Poets of the Punjab'', Iran Society, Calcutta. {{DEFAULTSORT:Inayat Shah Qadiri 1643 births 1728 deaths Mughal Empire Sufis People from Kasur District Punjabi Sufi saints * 17th-century Mughal Empire people