Sultan Bahu

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Sultan Bahu (ca 1628 - 1691) was a Muslim Sufi and saint, who founded the
Sarwari Qadiri sufi order. Sultan Bahu belonged to Awan tribe. Awans are the
descendants of Ali. Like many other sufi saints of the Indian subcontinent, Sultan
Bahu was also a prolific writer, with more than forty books on Sufism attributed to
him. However, as the majority of his books deal with specialised subjects related
to Islam and islamic mysticism, it is his Punjabi poetry that has generated popular
appeal and made him a household name in the region. His poetic verses are
sung in many genres of sufi music, including qawaalis and kaafis. Tradition has
established a particular style of singing his couplets, which is not used in any
other genre of sufi music. (Please see the External Links section for audio
resources.)
The Mausoleum of Sultan Bahu is located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab, Pakistan. It
is a popular and frequently-visited sufi shrine, and the annual festival is
celebrated with the usual fervour, which is now a distinguishing feature of what is
being called a 'shrine culture' of the Indian subcontinent.

Spiritual Genealogy / Tareeqa

Sultan Bahu belonged to the Qadiri sufi order, and later initiated his own offshoot,
Sarwari Qadiri.
Sultan Bahu refers to Muhiyuddin Abdul Qadir Jilani as his spiritual Master in a
number of his books and poetry, but it is obvious that this relationship must have
existed purely in the spiritual domain, as Abdul Qadir Jilani passed away before
the birth of Sultan Bahu. However, a majority of Sufi orders and saints maintain
that Abdul Qadir Jilani has a special role in the mystic world and thus all orders
and saints are always indebted to him directly or indirectly in some way.
Sultan Bahu's education began at the feet of his mother, Mai Rasti, who was
herself a saintly woman, and has her own Mouselem in Shorkot, a village in the
district of Jhang, Pakistan. She directed him to seek spiritual guidance from
Sheikh Habibullah Qaderi. After some time, Sheikh Habibullah sent him to Delhi
for further 'polishing' under the guidance of Sheikh Abdul Rehman al Qaderi. This
did not take long, after which Sultan Bahu returned to his own, familiar
surroundings.
The complete spiritual lineage (Silsila) of Sultan Bahu is as follows:

 Ali ibn Abi Talib

 Hassan Basri
 Shah Habib Al Ajami
 Daud Tai
 Maruf Karkhi
 Sari As Saqäti
 Shaykh Junayd Baghdadi
 Sheikh Shibli
 Walid Abdul Wahid
 Abul Farrah Yusuf
 Sheikh bu Hassan
 Sheikh bu Saeed Al Mubarak
 Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
 Abdur Razzaq
 Abdul Jabbar
 Yahya Wali
 Sheikh Najmuddin
 Abdul Sattar
 Abdul Baqa
 Abdul Jalil
 Abdûr-Rahman
 Sultan Bahu

Genealogy
Sultan Bahu was of the progeny of Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. His
family is thus Hashimi, and his tribe Awan. The Awan tribe trace their ancestry to
Ameer Shah, son of Qutub Shah.
After the incident of Karbala, the household of Muhammad had to migrate to
other lands. Many of his descendants who lived in Egypt and nearby lands
departed for Turkistan and Iran due to persecution at the hands of Hujjaj bin
Yusuf.
As time went by, they resettled in places such as Bukhara and Hamadhan in
Turkistan, and Baghdad in Iraq. Some migrated to Khurasan and others to Herat
in the mountainous regions of present day Afghanistan.
The ancestors of Sultan Bahu migrated and settled in India, and the father of
Sultan Bahu, Bazid Muhammed, became an important titleholder at the court of
the Mughal Emperors of India.
The complete genealogy of Sultan Bahu is as follows:
Sultan Bahu, Bazid Muhammed, Fatah Muhammed, Alla-Radatta, Muhammed
Tameem, Muhammed Mannan, Mogila, Peera, Muhammed Sughra, Muhammed
Noor, Sulla, Muhammed Baharie, Muhammed Jayoon, Muhammed Hargun, Noor
Shah, Ameer Shah, Qutub Shah, Emmaan Shah, Husein Shah, Firoze Shah,
Mahmud Shah, Fartak Shah, Nawaab Shah, Darrab Shah, Awhum Shah, Abeeq
Shah, Ahmed Shah, Ameer Zubeir,Abbas ibne Ali, Caliph Ali, Abu Talib, Abul
Mutallib (Grandfather of Muhammad), *Hashim, *Abdul Munaf

Literary Works
The actual number of books written by Sultan Bahu is not certain. According to
tradition, he is supposed to have authored over one hundred works and treatises.
The following is a list of the important works of Sultan Bahu that still exist today,
and can be traced back to him with credibility.
Nurul Huda, Risala-e-Roohi, Aql Baidaar, Mahq-ul-Fuqara, Qurb nnvnvn, Aurang-
Shaahi, Jami-il-Asraar, Taufiq-Hedaayat, Kaleed Tauheed, Ainul Faqr, Shamsul
Arifeen, Magzane Faiz, Ameerul Quonain, Asrare Qaderi, Kaleed Jannat,
Muhqamul Fuqara, Majaalis-tun Nabi, Muftahul Arifeen, Hujjatul Asraar, Jannatul
Firdaus, Kash-ful Asraar, Risaala Ruhi Shareef, Abyaat Bahu (poetry),
Muhabbatul Asraar, Ganjul Asraar, Dewaan Bahu, Panj Ganj, Fazlul Laqa, Jhook
Sultany, Ameerul Mumineen
Of the above, Nurul Huda (Light of Guidance) and Risala-e-Roohi (Book of Soul)
are the most popular, along with the poetry collection Abiyaate Bahu.