In the name of Allah, most Kind most Merciful

Khatam Sharif
In honour of the venerable

Shah e Mardan
Ali is my Imam and I am his slave.
May a thousand lives be sacrificed in the name of Ali.
I am a devotee of Ali, a free spirit and intoxicated.
I am a slave of Ali, the chosen one.
I am the leader of all sinners,
And a street dog of the lion Allah.
Introduction
A Bedouin emerged in the horizon of the desert sands, exhausted and alone,
stumbling through the gates of the blessed city of Madinah. He searched for a tavern
of hope, and for someone who could dispel his worries. He enquired, Is there
anyone who can help a desolate soul like me?
After a few moments of hearing his pleas someone called out, O you who is looking
for aid, look no further than the progeny of the al-Mustafa. Seek out Imam Hassan
for he is the most generous of them all. Filled with anxiety and excitement, the
Bedouin searched from one door to another, until he found the threshold of Imam
Hassan . He knocked and entered into his house. There he saw a man, of the
most striking features, and possessing the most beautiful etiquettes.
Imam Hassan
enquired, Come, please sit and tell me how I may be of service to
you, kind sir? I have been led to believe you are a person with whom God has
bestowed the honour of generosity, and I have therefore come seeking your help,
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replied the Bedouin. I require 200 dirhams to perform the wedding ceremony of my
daughter but I would be happy to accept anything that you can contribute towards
this amount.
Imam Hassan
signalled to his servant to bring 2000 dirhams and to give them to
this man. Upon receiving this money, the Bedouin was startled at how much he was
being given, but before he could utter anything, Imam Hassan
said, Take this for
your needs, I hope this is sufficient.
The Bedouin then returned to the Mosque in utter joy. Upon entering the Mosque he
saw, a man lying asleep in his tattered clothes covered in dust. The man looked in a
worse state than him at the point of his entry into Madinah. After assessing the
mans pitiful state he thought, if only this poor man knew about what Imam Hassan
has done for me.
He then began to awake the man and exclaimed, Dont lie there in despair, and pick
yourself up my friend, for there is someone who can help you. He is the most
generous of this city and he does not discriminate with his wealth. The man took one
look at him and went back to sleep. What a strange fellow the Bedouin exclaimed.
He was about to try and awake him again when suddenly one of the other people in
the mosque shouted out, O you fool! Are you not aware to whom you are speaking
to? This is no beggar or an ordinary person; he is none other than the Lion of God,
the father of Imam Hassan
and the Leader of Man (Shah e Mardan)!
Leader of Man
In the beginning of creation, Allah Almighty chose Rasulullah
for the esteemed
role of leader of all the prophets Sayyid ul Mursalin. The beloved prophet himself
has confirmed this in his saying, I was a Prophet when Adam was between clay and
water. Unlike the view held in popular belief Rasulullahs
prophet hood did not
begin when he turned forty. He was a prophet before creation and the Quran
mentions the covenant (Mithaaq an Nabiyin) in which all the prophets gave an oath
to support Rasulullah
Likewise Allah Almighty also sanctioned a role that would have authority over all the
saints from the beginning of time until the end. Although prophet hood ceased with
the seal of Prophets, sainthood has continued and therefore the role of the one who
overlooks continues to this day. This role is aptly titled The Leader of Man and
commonly known by the masses through the Farsi title Shah e Mardan.
Shah e Mardan
has been granted the authority to instruct and guide the elite of
mankind, the Awliya; from all generations including those who came in the time of
previous prophets. Like Rasulullah who guided all the prophets before his physical

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emergence, Shah e Mardan

has spiritually guided and instructed the Awliya of all
Ummahs even before his physical emergence into this world.
Shah e Mardan
is the fountain of guidance for all those who seek nearness to
their Lord and through his spirituality are inspired and guided towards Him.
The one who bears this great responsibility and trust, is none other than the great
Lion of God, the father of lmam Hassan
and Imam Husayn , the son in law and
cousin of the Prophet , the great Sahabi, Sayyiduna Ali ibn Abi Talib (May Allah
ennoble his face).
Birth
Shah e Mardans
mother was called Fatimah bint Asad and his father was Abd e
Manaaf, more commonly known as Abu Talib. He was the paternal uncle of
Rasulullah . While Shah e Mardan
was in the womb of his mother, he would
prevent his mother from prostrating to any idol. One day, as she was performing
Tawaaf around the Kaba she felt the pains of labour. With no person to aid her, she
became worried but then she heard a voice from the unseen instructing her to enter
the Kaba. It was inside the Kaba that she gave birth to Shah e Mardan .
Rasulullah
named the baby Ali and also placed his blessed saliva in the babys
mouth. After doing this, in jest he warned other family members from getting too
close, as the baby was prone to scratching. His mother then remarked, he is
Haydar, a ferocious lion! Rasulullah
shared a unique bond with Shah e Mardan
and his family, as he would often refer to Shah e Mardans mother as My mother
after my mother.
Childhood/ Conversion
Shah e Mardan
was at the tender age of ten when he first encountered Rasulullah
and his blessed wife, Sayyidah Khadijah
praying. Shah e Mardan
became
intrigued by the unusual actions and he enquired from Rasulullah
about this
strange practice. Despite his young age, Rasulullah
explained to him the
message of Islam and then invited him to join the new religion. Shah e Mardan
decided to seek his fathers permission before pledging his allegiance but later
returned without having asked his father. He had remembered an earlier counsel
from his father that he now acted upon. His father had advised him to always follow
and obey his cousin. He became the first child to accept Islam at the hands of
Rasulullah .
Although Shah e Mardan
grew up in the same house of Rasulullah
he was
extremely shy and modest in his blessed presence. Later in life he remained shy and

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refrained from asking Rasulullah

companions to ask on his behalf.

questions directly, and would request other

Shah e Mardans
loyalty and support for Rasulullah
existed from the very
beginning. In particular on one occasion, Shah e Mardan
was instructed by
Rasulullah
to prepare food sufficient for one person but also to invite all of his
paternal uncles for a meal. At the meal Rasulullah
took only one morsel from the
dish and then distributed the rest to his uncles. Shah e Mardan
later mentioned,
the food I brought was only sufficient for one person, yet every person ate to his fill
with some still remaining.
Rasulullah
then presented Islam to his family and they were all quick to disparage
his call. In particular, Abu Lahb went as far as to insult his nephew and ridicule his
message. Rasulullah
requested support from his family in this divine mission and
Shah e Mardan
was quick to voice his. He stood with such courage amongst his
elders and thumped his chest and said, I will support you O Messenger of God!
Migration
When the order for migration came, Rasulullah
instructed Shah e Mardan
to
stay in Makkah and to sleep on his bed and in the morning to return all the
belongings that had been left with him. It was at the same time, the leaders of the
Quraysh were conspiring to assassinate Rasulullah
in his home. The Quraysh
agreed to send one member from each to tribe to take part in this assassination, so
the family of Rasulullah
would be unable to avenge his death against all tribes
and would instead have to settle for blood money. When the assassins arrived
during the night, they were shocked to see that Shah e Mardan
was sleeping in
the bed of Rasulullah . The assassins then quickly retreated.
The following morning, Shah e Mardan
proceeded to return all the belongings that
were entrusted to Rasulullah
. Shah e Mardan
was able to return all the
belongings; however he encountered an individual who claimed to have left some
money with Rasulullah , which hadnt been returned to him and he also claimed to
have testimony to this from reliable witnesses. Shah e Mardan
then sought to
speak privately to each witness. Shah e Mardan
asked each of the witnesses how
much money had been left in the trust of Rasulullah
and on which day it was left.
It soon transpired from the conflicting information given by the witnesses and the
man himself that the claim was in fact false. Shah e Mardan
was quick to dispel
the false claim with his intelligent wisdom despite his youthful age. Shah e Mardan
then proceeded to make his migration as per the instructions of Rasulullah .
Shah e Mardan

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Shah e Mardan
later joined Rasulullah
and the other companions in Madinah.
It is evident from his childhood and youth that Shah e Mardan
possessed all the
qualities befitting the Leader of Man. This is why Rasulullah
took it upon himself
to guide Shah e Mardan
from a young age. He was the ideal student and a
constant source of support throughout.
After arriving late in Madinah, all the companions had been paired as brothers.
Feeling alone without a brother, Shah e Mardan
asked, Ya Rasulullah , who
will be my brother from the Ansar? Rasulullah
replied, You are my brother.
In another tradition Rasulullah
likened their relationship to that of Prophet Musa
and Prophet Harun
. This close bond ship was illustrated in many of
Rasulullahs
other sayings about Shah e Mardan ,
Whos ever Mawla I am, Ali is his Mawla
My blood is his blood, my flesh is his flesh
He is the wali and I am the master
Indeed Ali is from me and I am from him and he is the supporter of all believers
Each tradition is profound and worthy of volumes but overall they clearly highlight the
role of Shah e Mardan
in relation to Rasulullah
; and that these two
personalities should be inseparable in the sight of the believer. It is incumbent on
every believer therefore to accept Rasulullah
as his master and also to accept
Shah e Mardan as his/her master.
Due to his close proximity to Rasulullah , Shah e Mardan
easily adopted many
characteristics and was able to refine his nature. The saints upon achieving a certain
stage of development are guided directly by Shah e Mardan . This is the accepted
view amongst the tariqahs and explained in the Maktubat of Imam Rabbani (R).
Shah e Mardan
has been chosen by Allah Almighty to be the leader of all men
and to be the father of sainthood. He is the medium that carries messages and
commands to the Awliya from Rasulullah
and none will be able to attain any
spiritual success unless it is with the intervention of Shah e Mardan .
Apart from the Awliya, the masses have sought help from Shah e Mardan
and
continue to do so today. Popularised in devotional music, films and anecdotes, he
also polarises the Muslims into two groups, lovers and haters. Rasulullah
said
about this, O Ali, two different groups will emerge. They will both be extremes. One
because they will love you too much and the other because they will hate you.
The function of Shah e Mardan
is to be a role model for all people whether Muslim
or non-Muslims as he possess qualities such as chivalry, generosity, bravery, loyalty,
strength, wisdom. These are the qualities that he grants and passes on to the saints
as they attain different levels and forms of spirituality. Even if you are fully granted
one of these characteristics it could lead to sainthood, yet Shah e Mardan
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possessed them all. He has a link with each Sufi school of spirituality whether they
are Naqshbandi, Qadri, Chishti, Suhrawardi, Ba-alawi or Shadhili etc. This is
because they are all aware that Shah e Mardan
is the key and without the leader
of the Awliya they will not know of their purpose, role and hence will not attain the
pleasure of Allah Almighty and Rasulullah .
Noble Characteristics
Apart from possessing an ennobled face about which Rasulullah
exclusively said,
to look at the face of Ali is worship; Shah e Mardan
also possessed innumerable
characteristics and qualities which are mentioned here.
Knowledge and Wisdom
It is a well known fact that there are more Ahadith in praise of Shah e Mardan
than any other Sahabi. Of them, one of the most famous sayings of Rasulullah
is,
I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. This saying not only highlights the
extent of Rasulullahs
own knowledge but also the vastness of Shah e Mardans
knowledge.
Shah e Mardan
was known for his great wisdom and intelligence and he was able
to solve disputes so swiftly. On one particular occasion there were 3 men who were
quarrelling over how to share their 17 camels. The first man was due a share, the
second man was due a 1/3 and the third man was due 1/9 of a share. Many people
tried to resolve this dispute but to no avail until this matter reached the attention of
Shah e Mardan . Upon hearing about this tricky situation, he immediately called for
his servant to bring a camel from his own stock and to put it amongst the 17 other
camels. Of course, now there were 18 camels in total.
So Shah e Mardan
instructed the first man to take his share of from the 18
camels, so he took his 9 camels and left. He then instructed the second man to take
his share of 1/3, so the man took his 6 camels and left. He then instructed the third
man to take his share of 1/9, so the man took his 2 camels and left. He then
instructed his servant to return the remaining one camel back to his stock. A matter
which seemed to be so difficult to resolve, yet Shah e Mardan
was able to resolve
it so amicably.
Shah e Mardan
was also known for his simple yet powerful advice and it was due
to this advice that Sayyiduna Umar
said on many occasions, O! Abu al-Hasan, if
it was not for you, then Umar ibn al- Khattab would have been destroyed. This
acknowledgement from the great Sahabi himself is testimony to the fact that Shah e
Mardan
possessed great wisdom, insight and intelligence.
Bravery/Warrior

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La fata ila Ali, La Sayf ila Dhul Fiqar.

There is no greater warrior than Ali; there is no greater sword then al Dhul Fiqar.
In the battle of Khyber, a man by the name of Marhab came forward and challenged
the Muslims to a duel. Marhab was a man of a large stature and was feared and
undefeated in the Arab lands. He possessed the finest armour and the strongest
sword that was known to the Arabs. He approached the Muslims and challenged
them, I am the undefeated warrior and will punish anyone who dares to fight me.
Marhab then went on in his arrogance and began to speak of his many victories and
his noble lineage.
It was at this point, Shah e Mardan
bravely stepped forward and accepted
Marhabs challenge. Marhab began to ridicule Shah e Mardan , You are not fit
enough to fight me. At this Shah e Mardan replied in great vigour, I am Ali, the lion
of God. I fight in the name of God. Be prepared for your doom. He awaits you. The
fight commenced and with an instance, Shah e Mardan
struck Marhab with his
sword and instantly killed him.
After this battle, there was a great siege at the city walls which lasted a few days.
The Muslims had tried to break through but with no joy. A day before the conquest,
Rasulullah
gave glad tidings to Muslims, and said, Tomorrow, I will give this
banner to a person upon whose hand Allah will grant success and victory. He loves
Allah and His messenger, and Allah and His messenger love him. When the
companions heard this, they were eager to be the one about whom this was said.
They eagerly waited for the next day and everyone came with the hope to be the
chosen one.
When Rasulullah
emerged he asked, Where is Ali? The reply came from one of
the companions, O messenger of Allah, Ali has an eye infection and he is unable to
see. Rasulullah
then asked for Shah e Mardan
to be brought to him.
Rasulullah
then placed his blessed saliva into Shah e Mardans
eyes and the
infection was instantly healed. Rasulullah
then placed the banner into the hands
of Shah e Mardan
who then led the charge to the main gates of Khyber. Shah e
Mardan
himself broke the gate and carried it on his back as a shield. It was only
after the battle that the companions realised how heavy the gate was; it took forty of
them to move it.
This feat of extraordinary strength was shown again in another story when an old
lady asked Shah e Mardan
to carry a bundle of hay for her. Seeing it as a simple
task, he lifted the bundle by gripping the rope but was only able to bring it up to his
knees. Baffled by the weight and difficulty of the task he looked at the woman,
hoping for an explanation of some kind. The old lady remarked, young man you are
truly strong. I am no old lady and this is not just a bundle of hay. I am Jibrail
and

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this is the entire universe. No individual has ever managed to lift it off the floor never
mind bring it upto their knees.
Darwishi and Generosity
Shah e Mardan
was darwish by nature possessing nothing of this world and
having no desire for it. As Mian Muhammad Baksh
beautifully illustrates in one of
his poems, the good people keep their clothing away from the dirt. i.e. the pious
people keep their distance from the world. This was the case for Shah e Mardan
as he remained detached from dunya throughout his life.
Despite his own poverty he was the most generous of souls. He was always willing
to give to the needy. On one occasion, while sitting outside his home, a poor person
came to his door and asked for charity. Shah e Mardan
called his son Imam
Hasan
and said to him, My son, go to your mother and ask her to give me the 10
dirhams which I gave to her earlier today. When the young Hasan
requested the
money from his mother, she reluctantly gave them to her husband. When the beggar
had left, Sayyidah Fatimah asked her husband why he had given all that was in
their possession. She wondered if it would have been wise to keep one dirham to
meet the needs of the family. Shah e Mardan
disapproved and he advised his
wife, You are from the family of the Prophet ; he taught us to rely solely on Allah
and not on wealth. He taught us that whenever we give in the name of Allah, He will
increase the reward for us by tenfold.
Hearing this Sayyidah Fatimah
became content at the act of her husband. During
the same sitting, a man approached Shah e Mardan
and asked whether he would
like to buy a horse. Shah e Mardan
expressed his interest but could not at the
moment as he had no money. The man agreed to accept a payment of 60 dirhams at
a later date and he left the horse in the ownership of Shah e Mardan . A short
while later, another man approached Shah e Mardan
and asked whether he was
willing to sell the horse that was in his possession at a price of 160 dirhams. Shah e
Mardan
agreed and sold the horse to this man. He then sent 60 dirhams to the
man he initially purchased it from and sent the remainder to his wife. Shah e Mardan
comforted his wife and remarked, We gave 10 dirhams in the way of Allah, and
He repaid our generosity tenfold.
On another occasion Shah e Mardan
was praying when a beggar approached him
and beseeched his help. Out of his generous nature, he carefully removed his ring
whilst in prayer and with minimal movement threw it in the direction of the beggar.
Despite being in the middle of prayer, he was still willing to give.
Chivalry
There was no companion more chivalrous than Shah e Mardan . He was willing to
sacrifice his life for Rasulullah
on many occasions and as mentioned before he lay
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in Rasulullahs
bed when people came to assassinate him. It was during this
incident that Allah Almighty asked Jibrail
and Mikail
how much they loved
each other? They replied that they were the best of friends. Allah Almighty then
asked them, Are you willing to give your life for your brother? The angels remained
silent. Allah Almighty then ordered His angels, go and protect Ali ibn Talib, for he is
willing to give his life for his brother.
On another occasion Shah e Mardan
was fighting a duel with a non-believer.
When Shah e Mardan
had over powered him and knocked him to the floor, he
was ready to behead him, however at that moment, the non-believer spat in the face
of Shah e Mardan . To the amazement of the unbeliever, Shah e Mardan
resheathed his sword and walked away. The man shouted, You had me at your
mercy, yet you decided not to kill me? What made you to stop? Shah e Mardan
turned to the man and said, I was fighting you in the name of God because you were
an enemy to the truth, but when you spat in my face, my anger took over and I did
not want to kill you for the pleasure of my ego, therefore you are free from me.
These words penetrated the heart of this man and he knelt before Shah e Mardan
and accepted Islam.
Once a young man came and challenged Shah e Mardan
to a duel. He asked the
young man, we do not have a quarrel, so what is it that brings you to challenge me?
The young man replied, I seek my beloveds hand in marriage, but she refuses to
accept me unless I defeat the greatest warrior. Therefore I have come to defeat you
and show my beloved my courage. Upon hearing this, Shah e Mardan
lowered
his head and offered it to the young man and said, I offer you my head, take it, you
do not need to fight me. The young man did not want to accept victory in this
manner and felt humbled and ashamed before the Lion of God, having seen sense
he apologetically walked away.
Marriage
The nobles of the Quraysh asked Rasulullah
for the hand of Sayyidah Fatimah
as she was the only remaining daughter who had not been wed. Prominent
companions like Sayyiduna Abu Bakr
and Sayyiduna Umar
also sought her
hand. They understood that this was not to be from Rasulullahs
apparent silence
on the matter. From discussing amongst themselves they concluded that Shah e
Mardan Sayyiduna Ali
would be the best suitor, however he was too shy and
ashamed to ask directly.
A marriage that was preordained was not left to chance. As it would happen one of
the lady companions, went to Shah e Mardan
and inquired as to what prevented
him from seeking the hand of Lady Fatimah . He replied, I have nothing to offer for
her hand.

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Rasulullah
said.

will accept your proposal as these things do not concern him, she

Encouraged to ask he went to Rasulullah

but could not speak and fell silent with
his head down dropped. Rasulullah
asked him if there was something he desired
to speak about it. The ferocious Lion of God tamed and unable to express his desire
could not bring the words to his mouth.
Perhaps then you have come to propose for Fatimahs

hand? asked Rasulullah

Now able to lift his head with relief, he replied in the affirmative. Rasulullah
was
pleased and then explained to him that he had been waiting for him to propose.
Others had come and proposed for Sayyidah Fatimah
but he had remained silent
because Allah Almighty had already revealed that she was to be bequeathed to him.
Then Rasulullah
asked, And do you have anything in the way of a dowry?
Shah e Mardan
had nothing worthy to offer as dowry but Rasulullah
reminded
him that he had in his possession a shield given to him after a battle, which he could
now sell and use the proceeds as dowry.
On the way to the bazaar he met Sayyiduna Uthman
to whom he offered the
shield for 400 dirhams. Sayyiduna Uthman
always seeking out opportunities to
help others declined to take the shield but still gave 400 dirhams to Shah e Mardan
to use for dowry and advised him to keep the shield as he would need it for future
battles.
Shah e Mardan
was not one to horde items, so he presented the 400 dirhams and
the shield to Rasulullah
as dowry. The marriage was simple and Rasulullah
gifted his daughter a velvet garment, a water skin and a leather pillow stuffed with
grass.
The next day Rasulullah
visited the newlyweds. As he called out for them, the
companion Umm e Ayman
jokingly said, you call him your brother yet you have
married your daughter to him? Rasulullah
replied, yes, he is my brother in this
life and the next life. When the couple came out, Rasulullah
sprinkled water over
both of them and said to the groom, I have given to you the dearest in the household
to me.
It was a practiced sunnah that a feast be laid out after a wedding, however, on the
account of Shah e Mardans
impoverished state he was not able to perform this
rewarding sunnah. The other companions realising the situation each volunteered to
provide something for the feast, be it meat or barley.

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Then Rasulullah
again blessed Shah e Mardan
by pouring water over his head;
water which he had left over from performing wudu. He prayed, O! Allah bless them
and their offspring. This tradition of a holy, pious person blessing the union of a
married couple continues to this day.
Once married and living together the impoverished conditions remained unchanged
with hunger and hardship being their companions throughout. They would sleep on
the floor using a piece of leather as their bedding which during the day was used for
other purposes.
On one occasion they had not eaten for many days when Shah e Mardan
emerged from his house to find a coin on the ground. A moment of hesitation
stopped him from picking it up; after all it wasnt his to take. Then a divine thought
came to him and he picked it up and bought some flour with it. He took the flour
home and Sayyidah Fatimah
made bread with it. As she was extremely hungry
and fatigued she could not concentrate whilst she was making the dough. Her head
kept on falling into the flour as she was making it.
When the bread was prepared, Shah e Mardan
without taking anything from it
presented it before Rasulullah
and explained how he had the found the coin.
Rasulullah
advised that he should partake in this as Allah Almighty had provided
this as sustenance and there was no sin in it.
In another narration, Shah e Mardan
was again in the same predicament and on
this occasion he had to venture to the outskirts of Madinah seeking work. He saw a
woman gathering some dirt and he offered to draw water from the well for her in
exchange for payment. She took up the offer in return for a date for each bucket of
water drawn. Shah e Mardan
accepted the terms and set about drawing the
water. In total he drew sixteen buckets and was compensated duly with sixteen
dates, however this had come at a cost; his hands were swollen severely from using
the coarse rope and pulling up the heavy buckets of water. Before anything Shah e
Mardan
presented his hard earned payment to Rasulullah
who took some of
these dates for blessings.
As Rasulullah
only lived next door he would frequently visit the couple. One early
morning the couple were awakened by Rasulullah
to pray tahajjud. Then he
returned home to only return later when he could not hear the couple praying. Upon
returning Rasulullah
told them to awake and pray. Shah e Mardan
stood up
rubbing his eyes and remarked, Ya Rasulullah , our souls are in Allahs hands, if
He wants us to wake up then we will. Rasulullah
struck his thigh and mockingly
said, we will not pray anything but which has been decreed to us. Then he recited
the following Quranic ayat, indeed man is argumentative.

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Without any help Sayyidah Fatimah

performed the household chores such as
grinding the wheat, cleaning and fetching water from the distant wells. The leather
pouch in which she carried the water would leave marks on her back. Shah e
Mardan
out of compassion advised her to ask for a servant from her father.
She went to her father but out of shame could not come to ask for a helper and
returned home to inform her husband. Shah e Mardan
then convinced her to go
with him to Rasulullah
and once there he encouraged her to speak. Hesitantly she
mentioned her hardship; that bringing water gave her pains in the chest and
grounding the flour made her hands sore.
Rasulullah
replied, Allah will not give it to you and leave the Ahl e Sufa. Nothing
further to say on the matter, the couple returned home dejected. Later Rasulullah
came to visit them and gave words of encouragement, shall I not tell you something
which is better than what you ask for? Jibrail has taught me the following prayer to
be read after every salah and before going to bed; say Subhan Allah 33 times,
Alhamdu lillah 33 times and Allahu Akbar 34 times. This is of more benefit to you
than a maid or servant; Allah will remove your tiredness and difficulty through His
remembrance.
This remembrance, the couple maintained to their dying days and Shah e Mardan
from his own admission did not miss this even whilst in the midst of the most critical
battle.
The couple were blessed with a boy born on 3 rd of Ramadhan. Shah e Mardan
named him Harb (meaning war). Rasulullah
disapproved of this name and
decided to name him after one of the sons of Prophet Aaron
. His name in
Hebrew was Shabar which translated into Hasan in Arabic. Rasulullah
held Hasan
in his arms, kissed him and then performed the adhaan and iqamat in the
respective ears.
Shah e Mardan
also had another son who he initially named Harb but Rasulullah
named him Husayn
after the second son of Prophet Aaron , Shabir. They
also had two daughters, Sayyidah Zaynab
and Sayyidah Umm e Kulthum .
Conclusion
The descendants of Shah e Mardan
and Sayyidah Fatimah
have spread
throughout all communities of the world and are held in a special status by the
believers. They too like their esteemed grandparents are a constant support for the
believers in worldly and spiritual matters.
His blessed wife, Sayyidah Fatimah
is also his supporter and helper in spiritual
matters. She has the right to veto any promotion or demotion. Her approval must be
granted before anyone is admitted into the divine court. In this divine court, in which
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the Awliya gather, the central position is occupied by Rasulullah . He conveys

instructions to Shah e Mardan
who in turn conveys the instructions to the Awliya.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim
was one of those elite personalities present in this
divinely court. Such was his connection that in the latter part of his life, he frequently
spoke about Shah e Mardan . Furthermore, he would meet with Shah e Mardan
and converse with him as he would converse with other people. Such was his
elevated rank which he attained through Shah e Mardans
approval.
To truly appreciate and understand the role of Shah e Mardan
you must be a
person of beauty; who appreciates beauty; and sees beauty in everything; only then
will the veils be lifted and the heart be connected with Shah e Mardan .
In the Mathnawi, Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi
relates a story about a reed. After
Rasulullah
had returned from the Miraj he called for Shah e Mardan . When he
arrived, Rasulullah said, Close the door for this is only a matter between me and
you. You cannot discuss these matters with anyone else, because Allah has given
me permission to disclose 30, 000 matters of divine secrets to any one of my
companions. Rasulullah
then revealed secret after secret to Shah e Mardan .
Within a short space of time Shah e Mardans
stomach started to enlarge and
subsequently his health deteriorated. He understood the reason for this was the
secrets he had been told were too heavy to carry. When this became too much for
him, he found a desolate well and where he let out all the secrets. It just so
transpired that from the bottom of this well, grew some reed plants. A young
shepherd walking past one day noticed this reed, and so he decided to cut it to make
a flute.
Shortly after it came to Rasulullahs
attention that a shepherd boy was playing a
flute that made the animals behave strangely and go without food. So Rasulullah
asked the companions to bring the young shepherd to him. When the shepherd
arrived, Rasulullah
asked him to play the flute. Upon hearing its sounds,
Rasulullah
summoned Shah e Mardan
and said, These are the secrets I told
you!
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi
explains that every wali is a nay, a reed. They are all
therefore carrying divine secrets from Shah e Mardan
and he speaks through
them.
Shah e Mardan
was martyred whilst performing his prayers on 17 th Ramadhan.
The assailant was apprehended but as Shah e Mardan
lay breathing his last few
breaths, he took pity upon his attacker. He asked the people to bring water for his
attacker as he saw the signs of thirst on his face. Just as Rasulullahs
last

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moments were occupied in the thought of others, Shah e Mardan

his companions to treat the criminal with fairness and justice.

also instructed

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim

mentioned that Shah e Mardan
had instructed his
companions to place his body on a camel and to allow it to roam in the desert.
Sometime later a caravan of people arrived and enquired from the residents for their
apparent sombre mood. Holding back their tears, they informed the travellers of the
sad news of Shah e Mardans
demise.
What are you saying? We just saw Shah e Mardan
camel, alive and well

in the desert mounted on his

Al Fatiha

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Khatam Sharif Date: 28/08/14

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