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When Hazrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaaz (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) arrived in Ajmer, he settled down under a tree next to an open field where the camels of the Hindu King rested. When the royal camel-riders arrived to tend to the camels, they saw Khwaja Saheb seated there. They ordered him to vacate the area as it was exclusively for the King’s camels. Khwaja Saheb and his Mureeds ignored the camel-riders and this aggravated them. When they became harsh in their protest, Khwaja Saheb told them, “Okay we will leave and your camels will sit here.”
Khwaja Saheb and his Mureeds then left and settled along the bank of the lake called Anasagar. Khwaja Saheb liked this location very much as it was very clean and beautiful. He settled here and engaged himself in Ibaadat (Worship). Later, when the King’s camels were to be herded to their designated location, through the Karaamat (Miracle) of Khwaja Saheb the camels sat put and could not move.
The camel-riders tried tirelessly to get them up but miserably failed. They reported this dilemma to the King who advised them that the only solution to this problem was to seek forgiveness from the Dervish whom they had harassed. So the camel-riders humbled themselves in the presence of Khwaja Saheb and begged for forgiveness. They were immediately forgiven and Khwaja Saheb told them, “Go, your camels have gotten up.” When they returned to the herd of camels they were amazed to find that all the camels had indeed gotten up and were ready to be herded. They reported this amazing incident to the King who began trembling with fear.
From the time Khwaja Saheb and his devotees camped at Anasagar, they bought a cow everyday and slaughtered it for their food. This greatly angered the Hindus as the cow was sacred to them and they worshipped it. They felt very provoked and approached Khwaja Saheb and his devotees with weapons, intending to attack them.
At the time when they intended this hostility, Khwaja Saheb was engaged in worship. When he completed his worship his devotees informed him of this and he picked up a fistful of sand, recited Ayatul Kursi on it and threw it towards the attackers. On whomsoever the sand landed, his body instantly dried up and stood motionless as a statue. The Hindus saw this and fled the scene in terror. They were now convinced that it was impossible to confront or challenge the newly arrived Dervish. They retreated and consulted with their senior Brahman (Guru) and sought support from him in overpowering Khwaja Saheb.
At first the Brahman remained silent and then said, “O Friends! This man who has settled here is a very staunch and powerful Saint of his religion. He is a devotee with amazing spiritual powers and I have no other option besides combating him with Jaadu (witchcraft).” Hence, he taught his Jaadu to all the Hindus and ordered them to master it. The Guru then approached Khwaja Saheb with his students behind him, all reciting their witchcraft mantras. One of Khwaja Saheb’s disciples found out that these Hindus are engaged in Jaadu and he informed his Murshid of this. Khwaja Saheb replied, “Their Jaadu can have no effect on us. Their Brahman himself will bow his head in submission.” He said this and engaged himself in Ibaadat.
As soon as they approached Khwaja Saheb and saw his spiritual awe, they were captivated by him and froze in their spots. They could not read their Jaadu mantras nor could they take another step. When Khwaja Saheb completed his Salaah, he turned and looked towards them. As soon as the Brahman saw the luminous face of Khwaja Saheb he fell at his feet and embracing Islam. The Hindus advised him much to retract his declaration of Islam but it was all in vain. On the contrary, he became angry at them, picked up a stick and began hitting them, seriously injuring some and killing a few. The rest of them became fearful and ran away.
Hazrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaaz (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) then attended to the new revert compassionately and gave him a bowl of water to drink. As soon as he drank this water from the blessed hands of Khwaja Saheb, the darkness of kufr (disbelief) was erased from his heart and it became illuminated by the light of divinely blessed knowledge of Reality. He placed his head on the sacred feet of Khwaja Saheb and said, “After looking at your glorious face I have become extremely Shaadi (happy) and Khushi (overjoyed).” Khwaja Saheb said to him, “I have kept your name Shaadi.”
This news reached the King and he became extremely worried. He then consulted with the most celebrated master in witchcraft of Hindustan, Jaypal Jadugar, who was extremely revered by the King. Jaypal lived near Ajmer and was regarded as the most powerful master of witchcraft in the whole country. Jaypal had 1500 devotees, of which 700 were students and the rest were masters in the art of witchcraft. The King reported his dilemma and fear to him and sought his vital assistance. Jaypal summoned all of his devotees and along with the King proceeded to confront Khwaja Saheb. He blew on a buck skin and it began floating in the air. He mounted it, followed by his students mounted on elephants, camels and horses and marched towards Khwaja Saheb. Their march shook the ground and seeing them was a terrifying sight indeed.
When Khwaja Saheb was informed of their approach, he made Wudu, drew a ring on the ground and ordered all of his disciples to have courage and sit inside the drawn ring. When the army of Jaypal drew closer, Khwaja Saheb addressed them and asked, “Why are you people harassing us? Do you desire to be wiped off the earth?” They replied, “We demand that you move away from Lake Anasagar and do not pollute its water by bathing and making ablution in it. When you touch it, you make it impure for us to use. Our main objective is that you leave here on your own accord or else we will drive you out with the power of our Jaadu.”
When Khwaja Saheb heard these daring words, he became infuriated and summoned for Shaadi. When he came, Khwaja Saheb gave him his Wudu jug and ordered him to fill it with water from Lake Anasagar while constantly invoking the Ism-e-Azam ‘Ya Budduh’.
Shaadi did as he was told and filled the jug. Through the Qudrat of Allah Ta’ala, the water of the entire lake went into the small jug and the lake dried up and seemed as if there had been no water in it for ages. Shaadi then presented the jug to Khwaja Saheb.
All the fish and creatures of the lake began dying and in fact many had already died. Jaypal saw this astonishing phenomenon and asked, “Who is this man who kills so many creatures in an instant?” Khwaja Saheb challenged him to come forward if he had the strength and return the jug of water back into the lake. Jaypal tried with all his might and power yet let alone lifting the jug, he could not even move it from its place. He stood dumbfounded and embarrassed before Khwaja Saheb, who told him that his Jaadu will not work in his presence. Khwaja Saheb himself then picked up the jug of water and emptied it into the lake. The lake once again filled up as it was before with all the fish and creatures becoming alive again.
When the Hindus saw this miracle, they summoned all the Jadugars to collectively launch an attack. They began reading their mantras and as a result thousands of snakes appeared and rushed to attack the group inside the spiritually fortified ring. When these snakes reached the ring they simply rested their heads on the line drawn by Khwaja Saheb and relaxed. Khwaja Saheb then ordered his disciples to pick up the snakes and throw them towards the mountain, which they did. Wherever the snakes landed a fresh sprout sprung out from that ground and instantaneously grew into a fully mature tree.
When this happened to their snakes, the Hindus changed their strategy and launched another attack with fireballs. The fireballs too could not penetrate the fortified ring of Khwaja Saheb and they all fell short on the ground and landed in front of the ring, causing humiliation to the disbelievers.
When this too failed, Jaypal feared embarrassment before the King and approached Khwaja Saheb saying, “O Servant of God! Though you have triumphed and overpowered us, but you will never be victorious in the end. Hence, do not be foolish and drag yourself into difficulties. If you do not retreat, I will fly up into the sky and shower all of you with such a dreadful calamity that you will never forget it for the rest of your lives.” Khwaja Saheb looked at him, smiled and recited the following Persian verse:
تو کارزمیں رانکو ساختی! کہ با آسمان نیز پر داختی!
What wonders have you done on the earth
That you desire to fly in the skies?
This comment added to Jaypal’s embarrassment, however he still flew his buck skin into the air, mounted it and flew high into the sky till no one could see him. Hazrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaaz (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) removed his sandal and ordered it to pursue that disbeliever, beat him and bring him to the ground. Upon this order, the sandal took flight and repeatedly hit Jaypal on his mouth and head and forced him to the ground. As soon as Jaypal reached the ground, he was totally humiliated. He placed his head on the feet of Khwaja Saheb and pleaded for forgiveness.
Khwaja Saheb put some water in a bowl and gave it to him to drink. As soon as he drank from it, the filth of kufr (disbelief) and shirk (polytheism) was immediately cleansed from his heart and with a sincere heart he read the Kalima and became a Muslim.
This is why Hazrat Allamah Ibrahim Khushtar Siddiqui Qadri Razvi (Alaihir Rahmah) states:
کوثر و سلسبیل ہے اس کا
پی لیا جس نے جام خواجہ کا
Kauthar and Salsabeel (Fountains in the Hereafter) are his
The one who drinks the drink of the Khwaja
{Zaadirah-e-Bakhshish}
Khwaja Saheb then told him, “Ask for whatever you desire.” Jaypal humbly requested, “Grant me that spiritual perfection that the travellers of the spiritual path attain after many strenuous years of spiritual struggle and devotion.” Khwaja Saheb saw his sincere intentions and accepted his request. He then lowered his head and went into Muraqibah (Spiritual contemplation). After a while he lifted his head and cast an awe-inspiring sight at Jaypal, which spiritually elevated him.
Due to this, the external mundane world disappeared from his sight and he found himself in the spiritual world with Khwaja Saheb. In this spiritual journey, Jaypal found himself in flight behind his Murshid into the realms of heavenly ascend. Whichever sky they would reach, a voice from the unseen would be heard saying, “O Angels!Allow Jaypal to also enter, due to his friendship with Moinuddeen.”
Eventually, they reached such a realm where Jaypal was overcome with absolute awe and amazement. At this junction, numerous groups of angels took turns in welcoming Khwaja Saheb. They expressed great respect and reverence to him and cheerfully said, “Moinuddeen, the Friend of Allah has arrived. Fortunate are those who sit in his company and serve him.” {Iqtibaasul Anwaar}
کچھ نہ پوچھو مقام خواجہ کا
عرشیوں میں ہے نام خواجہ کا
Do not ask about the status of the Khwaja
Amongst the Angels is the name of the Khwaja
{Zaadirah-e-Bakhshish}
SubhanAllah! Such is the exalted status of Hazrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaaz (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) that he can transform a person from an idolator to elevated heights of Sainthood, just by giving them a bowl of water to drink. What a drink that is!
May Allah Ta’ala grant us sincere love and respect for the Awliya Allah, Allahumma Ameen.
