The great Khwaja Saheb said, "The whole world is illuminated with the Divine Light of Allah Almighty." Finishing this first sentence, his eyes welled up with contemplative tears. After a pause, he resumed: "O dervishes, Allah has brought me to this place so that I may die and lie here forever. Now, after a few days, I am leaving this world".

   This declaration sent a gloomy wave of sorrow and despondency among all present. Sheikh Ali Sanjari, his attendant and correspondent, was also present in the gathering. Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz ordered him to write down a Firman (order) in favor of Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki of Delhi saying that he must go to Delhi. "I appoint him as my Sajjadanashin at Delhi along with the sacred relics of our Khwajgaan-e-Chisht." Then, addressing Khwaja Qutubuddin, he said: "Your place is Delhi".

The Parting Scene

   Hazrat Khwaja Qutubuddin says: "When the Firman was ready, it was handed over to me and I was called to go near my Pir. When I did so, he put his kulah (headcovering on my head and wrapped the turban with his own sacred hands. He then gave me Hazrat Khwaja Usman Harooni's Asa (holy staff), his own copy of the Holy Qur'an, his musalla (prayer carpet) and a pair of sandals and said: "These are the most sacred relics of our Holy Prophet Mohammed (sas) which have come down to us through the past generations of our Khwajgaan-e-Chisht (succeeding dervishes in the silsila of Chishti saints) which were entrusted to me by my Pir-o-Murshid, Hazrat Khwaja Usman Harooni. Now I am giving them to you. You should prove yourself worthy of them, like our revered predecessors in our Order, so that on the Day-of-Judgment I may not suffer shame before Allah and our holy predecessors."

Parting Affection

   Hazrat Qutubuddin accepted these Tabarrakaat-e-Mustafavi (sacred relics) and offered two rakats of Namaz (Salat) in gratitude to Allah for this very responsible and onerous honor. After this, Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin grasped the hand of Khwaja Qutubuddin and lifting his face towards the sky, bade him good-bye, saying, "I entrust you to God. I have done my duty in bringing you up to this stage of perfection as your Pir."

Parting Advice

   Hazrat Khwaja Saheb then gave the parting advice to his spiritual successor. He said:

   "There are four things which are the essence of Sufism: (1) A Sufi must appear outwardly like a well-to-do and contented person, although he may be poor and hungry; (2) A Sufi must feed the poor to their heart's satisfaction; (3) A Sufi must always remain in a sorrowful mood inwardly but outwardly he must appear quite happy, cheerful and contented before the world; (4) A Sufi must always forgive and treat his enemy with affection and kindness."

   When Khwaja Qutubuddin intended to embrace his Pir-o-Murshid and seek his permission to depart, Hazrat Khwaja Saheb understood it and asked him to be nearer. When Qutub Saheb stepped up and fell down at his Pir's feet, Khwaja Saheb raised him up and embraced him affectionately. A Fatiha* was then recited and Khwaja Muinuddin advised his disciple further:

   "Never turn your face from the right path of Islam and Truth. Prove yourself to be a brave man in this divine mission." When Khwaja Qutubuddin again fell down, overwhelmed with love and grief at this tragic hour of parting, he was again raised and embraced affectionately by his Pir-o-Murshid. And this was the last embrace of his life with his beloved mureed and spiritual successor.

The Passing Of Khwaja Muinuddin

   Accordingly, Khwaja Qutubuddin left Ajmer for Delhi with a few other dervishes and took up his appointment as khalifa there as ordered. Hardly twenty days had passed when news was brought by a qaasid (messenger) that after his departure for Delhi, Khwaja Muinuddin lived for 20 days only and then he disappeared into the eternal Divine Bliss of the Almighty God. After fulfilling this divine mission, he passed away on 6th of Rajab 633 A.H. Those in attendance at his passing found that on his forehead, in letters of light were inscribed these Arabic verses, as under in English translation:

   "He is Allah's beloved and he died in Allah's love."

   The Lamp of Divine Wisdom, lighted 7 centuries ago by the saint, however, still burns brightly at his Dargah in Ajmer.

   Khwaja Qutubuddin's grief upon receiving this sad news can better be imagined than described. "Inna Lillahe wa inna alaihe raajaoon." ("To Allah we belong and to Him we return."(Holy Qur'an).

Grand Spiritual Luster

   This sun of Sufism that rose from the horizon of Mecca and Medina and appeared over India in 1191 A.D. to shed its luster all over Hindustan for 44 years, at last disappeared behind the curtain of Divinity.

   Its miraculous sunshine guided humanity on the virtuous path of Truth, Love and Righteousness in India. But its setting was not the end of its magnificent spiritual luster which continued and sustains its glorious light even today—more than 800 years after his death.

   The spiritual successors of Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti carried on the torch of his holy mission to every nook and corner of the globe, performing a most wonderful divine sevice never witnessed in the long history of the world--a miracle which won the souls of millions of persons for Islam with love.

   Innumerable were the temporal monarchs in India's long history who dominated her scene from times immemorial. But they all were lost in the mist of time and fading memories, mostly unsung and unhonored if their rule was tragic and full of lust, greed, tyranny, bloodshed and destruction, leaving behind only tales of human misery and woes.

   But against this tragic history, the loving and peaceful drama staged by Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti and his illustrious Khalifas has left behind a sweet, glorious and immortal impression of overwhelming love and devotion for them upon the minds and souls of millions of the succeeding generations of India country for the past 800 years.

A Lonely Dervish

   Here was a lonely dervish, a divine hero, who came to India with a solitary chadar (cloth wrapper) and a few companions who had nothing to defend with except the pious name of Allah. They hated oppression and exploitation of the innocent humanity. They had selflessly devoted themselves to the Commandments of Allah and Prophet (sas) and the service of the suffering mankind, whose sacred motto of life was "Love towards all--Malice towards none." The Chishti Sufis won the hearts of millions of oppressed people by sheer love, sympathy and service and who thus changed the very course of Indian history-- an act which stands out as one more living example of the grand miracle of Sufism in the history of Islam.

Immortal Glory

   Is it not therefore a most wonderful part of this historic drama of Love and Peace that its spiritual influence, even after eight centuries, still continues, dominating, illuminating and cheering the sad hearts of millions of afflicted people in the struggle of their day-to-day life, irrespective of caste, creed or nationality?

   Infatuated and lost in the lust of present day scientific materialism, the modernist is losing fast his faith in religion and divine miracles. But here is a living example, like innumerable other divine manifestations happening every minute (for the vigilant eye) which must convince us to revive and strengthen our belief in the eternal glory and supreme power of the Almighty God, the influence of religion and the sacred preachings of the great religious founders of the world who are the real harbingers of love, peace and prosperity on earth.

   All prophets, saints, and sages--call them by any name--belong to one and the same human family in spite of their differing religions, ranks, names, languages and preachings. They are all servants of Allah Who is their Chief Patron. As such, they never die the death of common mortals but only disappear into the glory of Divinity after playing their noble roles under the Divine Scheme of Things or the eternal Divine Law that keeps the world going according to Allah's own Will and Pleasure, despite all the false shadows of the temporal powers that pretend to rule the world.