Hayaat — The Life
حیات
1. Birth
وِلادت
Hazrat's birth took place on a Friday, at approximately eleven in the morning, on the 24th of Rajab 1288 AH, in the Qāḍī Pūrā neighbourhood of Hyderabad Deccan. His pen-name was "Ḥasrat" and his kunya (honorific patronymic) was Abu'l-'Abbās.
His paternal lineage traces back to Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) through twenty-eight links; his maternal lineage ascends to Imām Ḥusain (may Allah be pleased with him) through thirty-two links. He was thus blessed with noble descent from both the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and the household of the Prophet ﷺ.
2. Brothers and Sisters
بھائی اور بہنیں
Hazrat's elder brother was Mawlavi 'Abd al-Muqtadir Ṣiddīqī, born on 7 Muḥarram 1291 AH. He was a man of great learning and piety. His wiṣāl (passing into divine union) occurred on 14 Rabī' al-Awwal 1361 AH. A chronogram verse was composed to record this date, drawn from the Qur'ānic verse: "Verily, the righteous shall be among gardens and springs" [Qur'ān 51:15] — the numerical value of the letters yields the year of his wiṣāl.
Hazrat's elder sister, Ḥāfiẓa Begum, was born on 6 Dhu'l-Ḥijja 1285 AH and passed away in Rabī' al-Awwal 1322 AH. She was a woman of learning and spiritual elevation, having memorised the Qur'ān and pursued religious studies with great dedication.
Another figure closely connected to the family was Shāh Ṣābir Ḥusainī, Hazrat's nephew, who passed away on 3 Muḥarram 1348 AH at the age of approximately seventy-five. He was a man of spiritual distinction and counted among those who carried on the family's tradition of learning and gnosis.
3. Childhood
بچپن
From his earliest years, Hazrat displayed an uncommon disposition. He was a deeply inquisitive child, and even in childhood he would ask questions about the nature of God and the mysteries of existence. Those around him perceived a spiritual warmth in him that set him apart from other children of his age. Where others played freely, he was drawn to reflection and wonder — a soul already oriented toward the Divine.
4. Boyhood
لڑکپن
In his boyhood, Hazrat had the extraordinary blessing of visiting the blessed city of Madinah al-Munawwara. During this visit, the great spiritual master Shāh 'Abd al-Ghanī turned his attention toward the young Hazrat — who was then approximately eight years of age — and bestowed upon him a special spiritual regard. This early encounter left a deep and lasting impression on his inner life.
Even as a young boy, Hazrat composed verses of deep feeling. A couplet addressed to his mother during this period — expressing his longing, his love, and his sense of the soul's wandering — is recorded among his earliest poetic works, and it bears witness to the rare depth of feeling that marked him from his youth.
5. Education and Teachers
تعلیم اور اساتذہ
Hazrat received his formal religious and academic education at Dār al-'Ulūm Hyderabad — an institution established in 1272 AH (1856 CE) — and went on to attain the highest academic honours, including gold medals from Punjab University for his distinguished performance. His education combined the traditional Islamic sciences with broader academic learning in a manner befitting a scholar of his extraordinary breadth.
Among his principal teachers were: Sayyid Muḥammad Sa'īd, a master of the transmitted sciences; Mawlvī 'Awn al-Dīn, who nurtured his love of Arabic literature and jurisprudence; the distinguished Yemeni scholar Ḥabīb Abū Bakr ibn Shihāb, who imparted to him the elevated tradition of Hadith; and Sayyid Nādir al-Dīn, through whose instruction Hazrat deepened his mastery of the rational sciences. Each of these teachers left his mark on the vast learning that would define Hazrat's later life.
6. Marriages
نکاح
Hazrat entered into marriage four times across the span of his life, each marriage following upon the death of the previous wife. His first wife was Bādshāh Begum, from whom he had the greater part of his children. She passed away after bearing him fifteen children. His second wife was 'Ā'isha Begum, from whom he had three sons; she too passed away before him. His third wife was Farrukh Begum, but their union lasted only nine months before she died. His fourth and final wife was Rābi'a Begum, who came to be known with affection and reverence as "Rābi'a Madanī" — a title that speaks to her spiritual standing and her closeness to the traditions of Madinah. From her was born one daughter.
In each of his marriages, Hazrat exemplified the prophetic standard of fairness, kindness, and domestic honour. His household was known for its atmosphere of learning, remembrance, and quiet spiritual discipline.
7. Domestic Life
گھریلو زندگی
Hazrat's domestic life may be understood across four distinct periods, each defined by the wife who presided over his household at that time. The longest and most fruitful period was that of his first wife, Bādshāh Begum, from whom fifteen children were born. The second period, with 'Ā'isha Begum, gave rise to three sons. The brief third period with Farrukh Begum lasted only nine months. The fourth and final period was with Rābi'a Begum, from whom one daughter was born.
Throughout all these periods, Hazrat's home — particularly Madīna Manzil, the residence that came to bear the blessed name of the Prophet's ﷺ city — was a gathering-place for scholars, seekers, and the poor. The doors were always open. Hazrat maintained a household that was simultaneously a school, a spiritual retreat, a sanctuary for the needy, and a centre of warm human fellowship.
8. Employment and Professional Life
ملازمت
Hazrat began his professional career on a modest salary of thirty-five rupees per month. Through decades of dedicated scholarly service, he rose to the position of Professor and Head of the Department of Divinity at Osmania University, Hyderabad — one of the most distinguished academic institutions of the subcontinent — where his salary reached one thousand rupees per month, a reflection of the high esteem in which he was held.
He retired from formal university service in 1932 CE, but his retirement was no withdrawal from teaching. He continued to instruct students, disciples, and seekers at his home until the very end of his active life — teaching well into his ninety-second year. His association with the Anjuman Thamarat al-Adab and other scholarly institutions kept him at the heart of Hyderabad's intellectual and spiritual life long after his formal career had concluded.
9. The Pilgrimage to the Ḥaramayn
حج و زیارت
Hazrat departed for the blessed Ḥajj on 1 Ramaḍān 1335 AH (7 March 1924 CE). His companions on this sacred journey were Professor Muḥammad Ilyās Barnī, Colonel Ḥabīb 'Alī Qādrī, and Ḥāfiẓ Sayyid Luṭf Aḥmad — each a man of learning and distinction, and each transformed by the journey they undertook together.
The route of the journey was one of immense spiritual richness. From Bombay by sea, the party proceeded to Baghdad — the city of Imām 'Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (may Allah sanctify his secret) — where Hazrat composed an Urdu na't in the glow of that holy presence. From Baghdad they proceeded to Kāẓimayn and then to the plains of Karbalā and the shrine of Najaf, where Hazrat poured out his heart in a Persian ghazal at the threshold of Imām 'Alī (may Allah be pleased with him). The journey continued through Damascus, whose ancient mosques and the tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya filled him with awe, and then through the blessed land of Palestine.
At last they arrived in Madinah al-Munawwara on 1 Dhu'l-Qa'da — and Hazrat's state at the threshold of the Prophet's ﷺ mosque was beyond what words can contain. He performed all the rites of visitation with the fullness of adab (proper spiritual courtesy), and the days in Madinah were among the most spiritually elevated of his life. From Madinah the party proceeded to Makkah al-Mukarrama, where Hazrat completed all the rites of Ḥajj with perfect care: the Ṭawāf, the Sa'ī, the standing at 'Arafāt, the night at Muzdalifa, the stoning of the jamarat at Minā, and the great sacrifice. He recited the Qur'ānic supplication that is the prayer of every pilgrim:
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
Translation: "Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire." [Qur'ān 2:201]
He departed Jeddah on 21 Dhu'l-Ḥijja and returned to Hyderabad on 29 Dhu'l-Qa'da 1335 AH (30 June 1924 CE). The entire journey — from departure to return — lasted nearly four months, and it marked a decisive spiritual deepening in Hazrat's life. Those who knew him before and after the pilgrimage noted a new luminousness in his face and a new gravity in his words.
10. Physical Appearance
حِلیہ
Hazrat was of medium-short stature, with a wheatish complexion touched by a reddish glow. His build was strong and compact — the body of a man of vigour — with broad shoulders and a wide chest. When his hair was not shaved, it fell in thick curly locks. His eyebrows were broad and arch-shaped, beautifully formed. His eyes were luminous — possessing a light that struck all who looked into them. His nose was elevated and well-proportioned. His beard was full and thick. His entire bearing was one of composure and spiritual authority.
Hazrat himself explained the nūr (light) in his eyes: "In my entire life, I have never looked at any woman with desire." He attributed this inner purity as the source of the light that others perceived in his gaze. On one occasion he said with full conviction: "I am seeing with the eyes of Muḥammad ﷺ" — a statement of the highest spiritual significance, pointing to the state of the mystic who has effaced his own sight in the sight of the Prophet ﷺ.
11. Dress and Attire
لِباس
Hazrat had no single fixed form of dress — each garment he wore seemed perfectly suited to him, as if clothing itself recognised who it adorned. At home he wore a plain white kurta and pyjama with an Arab-style cap. For formal occasions he would appear in a jāmavar sherwānī and a distinguished turban tied with elegant precision, sometimes accompanied by a sword — carrying himself with the bearing of a prince of the spirit. During his college years he favoured a navy-blue serge sherwānī with a black felt cap. After his retirement, his customary dress was an olive-green kurta, and he carried a wicker staff with metal tips at its ends.
Whatever he wore became him. Observers noted that his presence transformed any garment into something distinguished — he did not dress to impress, yet he impressed everyone he met.
12. Food, Drink, and the Spiritual Dimension of Eating
کھانا پینا
Hazrat ate minimally and with great refinement. His tastes were simple yet discerning: he enjoyed fresh chapati, roghni roti (bread enriched with oil), shab-deg (a slow-cooked Hyderabadi meat dish), fried fish, mango sherbet, ice-cream, almonds, and pistachios. He was known for his personal preparation of a special pickle he called "Rangbak Qādirī" — a recipe he developed himself and would share with those he loved.
His afternoon tea was a small ceremony of its own. He took plain tea without milk, sweetened with crystallised sugar, served in small demitasse cups — and the gathering of family around the tea tray was a moment of warmth and quiet intimacy. These simple rituals of daily life he invested with presence and meaning.
But food, for Hazrat, was never merely material. He taught from the Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam of Ibn 'Arabī on the spiritual dimension of eating — on how the tajallī (manifestation) of the Divine enters even the act of nourishment, and how the mystic may find in eating itself a station of fanā (annihilation of the ego in God). He cited the Qur'ānic verse on the waters of life:
وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ
Translation: "And We made from water every living thing." [Qur'ān 21:30]
In this way even the simplest meal became, in his presence, a lesson in tawhīd — the oneness of God manifesting in every particle of existence.
13. Character and Moral Nature
سِیرَت
Hazrat's character was the meeting-point of every virtue that the tradition of Sunni Sufi Islam has articulated as its ideal. He was a scholar of the highest rank, a 'ārif (gnostic) of confirmed spiritual station, and a man of certainty (yaqīn) who had passed through the stages of the path and emerged into the clarity of direct knowledge. Yet none of this was worn as distinction — it was lived, quietly and completely, in every moment of his daily existence.
He was never angry for his own sake. When wrong was done to him personally, he bore it without complaint and without rancour. His anger was reserved only for what violated the rights of God and the rights of the weak. He kept open house for all who came — not only Muslims, but Hindus, non-believers, and those whom society had marginalised. He would say: "I am not an enemy of the body — I am an enemy of wrong belief." And he nourished both the body and the spirit of all who arrived at his door.
He would feed the hungry without being asked, tend to the sick with his own hands, and never turn away a face that had come with need. He forbade his disciples from cultivating closeness with rulers and people of worldly power, teaching that the spiritual path and the court of kings are incompatible companions. His entire governance of self and household was by the Sharī'a — the divine law — while his inner states reached the most exalted spiritual heights. His karāmāt (saintly wonders) were as natural to him as habitual actions — he performed them without display and without the slightest trace of ego.
He was, in short, a man in whom 'ubūdiyya — complete and joyful servanthood to God — had become so total that it expressed itself not as constraint but as freedom: the freedom of one who has nothing left to protect, nothing left to fear, and nothing left to want except what God wills.
14. Joy and Sorrow
خوشی اور غم
Hazrat's capacity for joy was as genuine and deep as his capacity for sorrow. When the author of this biography was himself to be married, Hazrat showed a tenderness that the author never forgot: Hazrat hosted both the groom and the bride at Madīna Manzil, and for the māñchoṃ ceremony — the turmeric ritual of the wedding — Hazrat wore his own sherwānī in the author's honour, making the occasion a personal celebration of love. He counselled his disciples and the families under his spiritual care about the proper forms of the wedding: he disapproved of the practice of the "sara" (the groom's party demanding gifts at the bride's doorstep), of the "gate-blocking" custom (holding the groom for money), and of extravagant fees for the ritual escorting of the wedding horse. He guided families toward the simplicity and grace of the prophetic model. On the matter of mahr (the bride's gift), he was insistent: it must be paid, it must be honourable, and it must be within the husband's genuine means.
Sorrow visited him too, and he bore it with the same completeness that he bore joy. The death of his daughter Āmina Begum was a grief that left its mark. But the death that is recorded with the most detail and poignancy is that of his daughter Khadīja Begum — known with love as "Bī Jānī" — who died at approximately thirty-nine years of age. She passed on the 25th of Rabī' al-Thānī, with the words "Allāh — Yā Rasūla'Llāh!" on her lips — a death of the most beautiful kind, in remembrance and invocation. Hazrat's grief was visible and was not suppressed: he gave his eyes their due, and he gave his heart its due. The balance of the man — who neither denied human feeling nor allowed grief to overwhelm the acceptance of God's will — was itself a lesson in the spiritual life. Khadīja Begum was buried at Maḥbūb Ābād near the Mīr 'Ālam Lake.
The passing of his spiritual companion Ḥaẓrat Yaqīnī Pāsha was another sorrow that touched him deeply — a grief shared by all who had known that great man.
15. The Birthday Celebration
یوم ولادت
Every year on the 24th of Rajab — the anniversary of Hazrat's birth — a celebration was held in his honour. The event was organised by approximately one hundred dedicated persons drawn from his circle of disciples and admirers. The programme would begin at Maghrib (sunset prayer) and continue into the evening, with samā' (sacred listening/Qawwali), the distribution of flower garlands, and the recitation of salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ. The Qādiriyyāt — the women disciples of the Qādirī order — would appear in yellow robes to manage the women's section of the gathering, a beautiful sight that became one of the characteristic features of the occasion.
Hazrat himself would arrange a Fātiḥa (Qur'ānic recitation of blessing) for Imām Ja'far al-Ṣādiq on this occasion, for the 24th of Rajab is also associated with that great Imām of the Ahl al-Bayt. The celebration was attended on one memorable occasion by Pīr Najm al-Dīn Gīlānī — himself a man of great spiritual stature and a descendant of Sayyidunā 'Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī. The annual celebration continues to this day in the old Ṣiddīq Gulshan garden of Hyderabad — a living testimony to the love that his community carried for him.
16. An Unforgettable Gathering
ایک ناقابل فراموش مجلس
When Hazrat was seventy-three years of age, a monthly samā' gathering was held on the night of the 12th of Rajab at his Rakab Ganj house. A qawwal sang a verse about Bī Bī — the beloved of the Prophet ﷺ — and Hazrat entered an overwhelming ḥāl (spiritual state). He went limp, his breathing became imperceptible, and for a moment those present feared the worst — it appeared as though he had departed this world.
The next morning, Hazrat described what had occurred: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appeared. He took my hand, and we walked together for some distance — and then he said: 'You still have work to do. Go back.'" At that, the state lifted, and Hazrat returned to himself.
This encounter is recorded as one of the most extraordinary moments of Hazrat's spiritual biography — and it was followed by thirty more years of life. God had more work for this servant to accomplish before calling him home.
17. Sleep, Wakefulness, and the Night
نیند اور بیداری
Those close to Hazrat observed that even in sleep his devotion to God continued unbroken. His nighttime breathing carried the sounds of the Divine Names — those around him would hear "Lā ilāha," "illa'llāh," "Yā Ḥayy Yā Qayyūm," "Al-Qahhār" moving through the rhythm of his breath as he slept. The ḥabs-e-dam (breath retention, a technique of advanced dhikr) was also observed in him during sleep — his spiritual practice had become so deeply embedded that it continued even without the direction of the waking mind.
He rose before the Fajr prayer and performed it at its first and most blessed time. After the prayer he would engage in dhikr aloud — reciting the Rātib Ṣiddīqī, the litany of his order — in a voice that those in the household could hear, and which filled the morning air with the remembrance of God. He taught his disciples on the stations of fanā (annihilation in God) and baqā (subsistence in God), on sulūk (the spiritual journey), and on the reality of the Ghawth — the supreme spiritual pole. He spoke of the tajallī (divine manifestation) and of the Ḥaqīqat-e-Muḥammadiyyī — the Muḥammadan Reality, the spiritual essence of the Prophet ﷺ that underlies all creation. He cited:
لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ
Translation: "To whom belongs the dominion today? To Allah, the One, the Irresistible." [Qur'ān 40:16]
Of the forty minutes he spent in a particular station of night devotion — a state of complete presence before God — he said: "These forty minutes of life are the mi'rāj (ascension) of my life." It was a statement of the deepest spiritual autobiography: that in those moments, he had touched what the Prophet ﷺ touched on the Night of Ascension.
18. The Journey to the Hereafter
آخرت کا سفر — وِصال
The illness that would carry Hazrat to his Lord began in the period before the fall of Hyderabad in 1948 CE. Over the course of a year and a half to two years, the powerful wrestler-like physique that had sustained him through nine decades of intense spiritual and intellectual life was reduced to skin and bones. "The rider was so strong," one witness wrote, "but the horse was no longer capable of bearing him." The doctors administered medicines and ten injections. There was some slight improvement, but no lasting recovery. The condition worsened steadily, and everyone's anxiety deepened.
Yet Hazrat himself bore this long illness with a composure that was itself a form of spiritual teaching. His mental faculties remained fully alert to the very end. Not once did his face show exasperation or restlessness, nor did an ungrateful or despairing word pass his lips. Even in the worst moments, he welcomed visitors with a meaningful and joyful movement of the eyes — not allowing anyone to feel that he was suffering. His power of patience and the firmness of his will were, to all who witnessed them, astonishing.
He would say in those days:
مرض عشق اور جیتا ہوں ÷ میرا عشق خدا کی قدرت ہے
"I live with the disease of love — my love is the power of God."
He told those attending him: "I said to Allah: 'Why do you give me so much pain?' And the answer came: 'If you are not given this pain, you will forget your servanthood.'" The Divine logic of suffering — as a mercy, as a reminder, as a refinement — he had fully accepted.
On one occasion he said with remarkable clarity: "One hand puts weight on, and the other hand takes the weight off. As it takes the weight with one hand, it becomes lighter." He was describing the experience of his illness with the calm detachment of one who had long since ceased to identify with his body.
During the final illness, changing position for prayer was required. When no attendant was present and the prayer time came and he called out without anyone answering, he bore it in silence — with the patience of one serving the Ever-Silent Lord. "Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rāji'ūn" [Qur'ān 2:156] — he knew in his marrow what that verse meant.
The Final Qaṣīda
Approximately two months before his wiṣāl, in the month of Sha'bān, Hazrat composed his last Arabic qaṣīda — a poem of fifteen verses in praise of the Prophet ﷺ, dictated to his grandson Muḥammad Waqār al-Dīn Ṣiddīqī. This qaṣīda was then read to him daily, and he himself would recite it during the final period of his illness. It opens:
صَلَاةٌ وَتَسْبِيحٌ وَأَزْكَى التَّحِيَّةِ عَلَى خَيْرِ خَلْقِ اللَّهِ شَمْسِ الْحَقِيقَةِ
Translation: "Blessings and glorification and the purest salutation — upon the best of Allah's creation, the Sun of Reality."
نَبِيٌّ نَبِيِّهَا شَافِعٌ وَمُشَفَّعٌ إِمَامٌ هَمَّامٌ مَلْجَأٌ لِلْبَرِيَّةِ
Translation: "The Prophet of all prophets, intercessor and accepted intercessor — the Great Imam, the refuge for all creation."
Among the verses that followed were these, each a gem of Prophetic praise in the classical Arabic tradition:
أَمِينٌ لَوْحِي اللَّهِ لِلدِّينِ حَافِظٌ وَهَادِي عِبَادِ اللَّهِ حَامِيَ الْحَقِيقَةِ
Translation: "The Trustee of Allah's revelation, the Guardian of the religion — the Guide of Allah's servants, the Protector of the Truth."
اغَثْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ يَا سَيِّدَ الْوَرٰى
Translation: "Come to our aid, O Messenger of Allah, O Master of all the world!"
فَانِيَ فَقِيرٍ عَاجِزٍ فِي الْبَرِيَّةِ
Translation: "I am a faqīr annihilated [in him], helpless among creation."
وَأَنتَ بِفَضْلِ اللَّهِ قَاسِمُ رَحْمَةٍ جَوَادٌ كَرِيمٌ طَاهِرٌ وَمُطَهَّرٌ
Translation: "And by Allah's grace, you are the distributor of mercy — generous, noble, pure, and purified."
جَوَادٌ كَرِيمٌ شَافِعٌ وَمُشَفَّعٌ وَدِينُ النَّبِيِّ وَاضِحٌ لِلْبَرِيَّةِ
Translation: "Generous, noble, intercessor whose intercession is accepted — and the religion of the Prophet is manifest to all creation."
فَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرَ
Translation: "So let him who wills believe, and let him who wills disbelieve." [Qur'ān 18:29]
شُجَاعٌ غَيُّورٌ دَافِعُ الظُّلْمِ وَالْجَفَا
Translation: "Brave, zealous, repeller of oppression and cruelty."
The Fatal Illness
After the year and a half of steady decline, the final signs came. Red blotches began appearing under the skin — on the blessed hands, visible to all. The discoloration spread. Blood vessels beneath the skin were rupturing. The doctors understood: the matter had passed beyond the bounds of medical treatment. The body was entering sakarāt — the throes of death.
On that last day, those present heard Hazrat quietly reciting the opening verses of his qaṣīda. In those verses — addressed to the Prophet ﷺ, asking for his intercession — were his final conscious words on this earth. One witness wrote:
لوح امکاں سے آج اٹی ہے علم و فضل و کمال کی صورت
"Today the form of knowledge, virtue, and perfection has been lifted from the Tablet of Possibility."
The Wiṣāl
It was the 17th of Shawwāl 1381 AH (Friday, 23 March 1962 CE). From the morning, Hazrat appeared restless — a restlessness not of fear but of longing — and was continuously reciting the first two verses of the Arabic qaṣīda. His special physician Dr. Abu'l-Ḥasan Ṣiddīqī was intermittently present. The red blotches were visible on the hands. His younger son Ghawth Muḥiy al-Dīn Ṣiddīqī (known as Ghawth Ṣāḥib) sent urgent notice to Hazrat's elder son Dr. 'Abd al-'Alīm Ṣiddīqī Ṣāḥib, who arrived and immediately examined the pulse and temperature. The pulse was rapid; there was coldness. By consultation, an injection of Coramin (a cardiac stimulant) was administered. After a short while, the pulse returned. A glucose saline drip was given to address the water loss from the preceding days.
Hazrat took the hand of his elder son Raḥīm Pasha Ṣāḥib. Then, addressing Dr. Ḍiyā', he said in a low voice: "You may remain — but I am going." He extended his blessed hand. 'Alī Pasha Ṣāḥib received it. Hazrat's palms and fingers passed over both of 'Alī Pasha's palms and fingers, touching them with utmost gentleness — and then the voice fell completely silent. With the gesture of his hand, as if writing the word "نور" (light) in the direction of God, Hazrat looked. And then, with the movement of his hand as if inscribing "صَلَّى اللَّهُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ" — he slowly, gently closed his eyes. And the index finger rose — and remained raised, with the beard's hairs, raised in testimony: lā ilāha illa'llāh.
The wiṣāl occurred at 3:38. Outside, the disciples and devotees were already gathering for the monthly Mawlid, Burda, and Qaṣīda gathering — and the Burda was being recited in such a state that everyone was immersed in ḥuḍūr (spiritual presence). It was as if those reciting already felt what had occurred before the news reached them. Those present later said: "First Hazrat was with us and the Holy Presence ﷺ was with Hazrat — and now Hazrat has gone to the Holy Presence, and the Holy Presence has Hazrat." Qur'ān recitation began.
The Final Viewing
News of Hazrat's departure spread through Hyderabad. Each person who heard it felt his senses go numb, his mind darkened, and grief choke his heart as if it were his own death. "Not to mention the common people — Hyderabad's scholars, learned men, dervishes, professors, even adversaries — none could escape the flood of that grief." Madīna Manzil and its surroundings became an ocean of human heads. The silence was such that all the world seemed to grieve as one.
Those arriving for a last viewing turned the pages of memory in their minds — recalling moments of Hazrat's grace, his boundless love, his generous corrections, his kindness — and found themselves wishing, however irrationally: "If only Hazrat would be alive again, I would bathe my eyes in the dust of his feet." From the hearts of the lovers of 'Abd al-Qādir came the voice of inner truth: "The One God remains. The Holy Presence ﷺ will also come to me — and Hazrat ('Abd al-Qādir) will also be found." No one heard this voice outwardly — but everyone felt it.
The devotees and followers felt as though no sweetness remained in life — that Hazrat had taken everything with him, all the answers that can no longer be obtained from anyone. Yet at the same time the author writes: "It was felt that Hazrat's soul is as related and near to our soul as it was before the wiṣāl. Hazrat has not departed from us at all — nor will he ever depart from those who come after. The fayḍ (spiritual outpouring) of his faith and certainty will never come to an end. The glimpses of him and the strengthening forces of faith and certainty are present in his writings even today — and will remain."
Ghusl, Kafan, and the Funeral Procession
On the 18th of Shawwāl, Hazrat's sons and distinguished khalīfas gave him the ritual ghusl (washing) while continuously reciting ṣalawāt (blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ). At nine in the morning the funeral garments were laid. First the men were given the opportunity for a last viewing, then the women — whose eyes were streaming with tears even as their lips continued the continuous recitation of durūd. The grief in that hall was not wailing — it was taslīm o riḍā: acceptance and contentment with God's will. The hearts of all were touched with the nūr al-sakīna — the light of divine tranquility.
At 11:30 the funeral departed — through 'Azakhāna-e-Zahrā, Chādarghaṭ Kāmil, Chādarghaṭ Bridge, Bazār — with a surging, swelling sea of human heads. People of every class and every background were present and grief-stricken. On both sides of the route, crowds were dense beyond description. This vast procession resonated with no political or factional slogan. People walked with bowed heads, their one longing being to bear the bier — to offer their shoulder in that final act of service — and to obtain the blessing that only fate could grant. Ropes were tied to the bier so that as many willing disciples as possible could participate in bearing it.
People said that such a funeral procession had not been seen since the procession of Nawab Jang Bahādur of the Majlis Ittiḥād al-Muslimīn — and that after Hazrat's, the next comparable one was that of Nawab Mīr 'Uthmān 'Alī Khān, Niẓām al-Mulk Āṣaf Jāh — yet each was of a different character entirely. At the conclusion of the procession, a group of the Imāmiyya community (Shī'a), dressed in black, joined as an expression of grief — a testimony to how Hazrat's greatness had transcended the boundaries of sectarian affiliation.
The Funeral Prayer at Mecca Masjid
Due to the vast crowd, the bier was taken to the inner section of the Mecca Masjid — the great Friday mosque of Hyderabad — and placed near the minbar. The last time the inner section of the Mecca Masjid had been used for a funeral prayer of this kind was after Nawab Mīr Maḥbūb 'Alī Khān Āṣaf Jāh VIII. The funeral prayer was performed at approximately two o'clock. It was led by Hazrat's son-in-law and pīrzāda (son of a pīr), Mawlana Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Ḥusaynī Ṣāḥib. Despite the hard stone surface of the mosque's courtyard, thousands of Muslims performed the funeral prayer on those stones. The Mecca Masjid, its surroundings, the roads, and the courtyards were packed without a gap.
While taking the bier to the inner section of the mosque, a sorrowful accident occurred — a heavy marble column from the mosque's parapet fell, striking several persons to the ground. Some sustained serious injuries. Upon hearing the news, Nawab Niẓām Mīr 'Uthmān 'Alī Khān personally had the broken columns rebuilt at his own expense.
The Procession to Ṣiddīq Gulshan and the Burial
After the funeral prayer, the procession moved first via Panj Bacha and Shāh 'Alī Banda to reach Qāḍī Pūrā — the neighbourhood of Hazrat's birth. At Masjid al-Nūr, the bier was placed beside the mazar sharīf (sacred tomb) of Hazrat's own pīr and murshid (spiritual master and guide), Hazrat Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh. Hazrat's elder son Mawlana Muḥammad 'Abd al-Raḥīm Ṣiddīqī Ṣāḥib visited the mazar and recited the fātiḥa — a son seeking blessing from the grandfather-of-spirit for the father he was about to lay to rest.
After three o'clock, the procession proceeded via Panj Maḥalla, Charminar, Lad Bazaar, and Ḥusaynī 'Alam — passing through the old heart of the city — and reached Ṣiddīq Gulshan.
Fifteen to twenty days before his wiṣāl, Hazrat had himself arranged for his burial plot. A hundred-square-caura plot at the centre of Ṣiddīq Gulshan had been prepared under the supervision of his son-in-law Janāb Naṣr Allāh Ṣāḥib Qādirī. The land of Ṣiddīq Gulshan — acquired in 1353 AH (approximately 1934 CE) from Lieutenant Colonel Nawab Ḥabīb Jang Bahādur — had long been Hazrat's spiritual garden, the site of his annual birthday celebration, and the resting place of those he loved. Now it would receive him.
Those who had arrived at Ṣiddīq Gulshan beforehand numbered in the thousands. When the procession arrived, there was no space left to stand. Present for the burial were most of Hyderabad's scholars, mashāʾikh (spiritual masters), dervishes, university and college professors, lecturers and teachers — dejected, silent, heads bowed — and the thousands of students and disciples who had sat at Hazrat's feet over the decades. It was a remarkable gathering, assembled in the utmost dignity, to witness the return of this servant of God to the earth from which all bodies come and to which all bodies return.
Ṣalāt al-Janāza al-Ghā'ibana and Glad Tidings
In the days that followed, absent funeral prayers (ṣalāt al-janāza al-ghā'ibana) were performed for Hazrat in mosques across Hyderabad and Secunderabad, in cities throughout India, and in two places of especial significance: Baghdad Sharīf — the city of Ḥaḍrat 'Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, Hazrat's founding master — and the Masjid al-Nabawī in Madinah, the mosque of the Prophet ﷺ himself. In most places, a complete khatm al-Qur'ān was also performed for the conveyance of spiritual merit (īṣāl al-thawāb) to the departed.
The most beautiful of the spiritual testimonies to his passing came from Mawlana Ḥāmid Ṣiddīqī, one of Hazrat's disciples and khalīfas (spiritual successors), who was in hospital recovering from an eye operation when Hazrat passed. His attendants, not wishing to distress him, deliberately withheld the news. But Mawlana Ḥāmid saw in a dream: he was before the Ḥaram al-Nabawī, and Hazrat was coming from Masjid al-Nabawī Sharīf. And at the same moment, an announcement resounded: "The Holy Person himself of the Most Noble Prophet ﷺ is coming to receive Mawlana 'Abd al-Qādir Ṣiddīqī." The scene of welcome — the Prophet ﷺ himself coming to meet his beloved disciple at the gates — was before him as clearly as day. He knew: Hazrat had gone. On the third day, the news was given to him. One of his relatives confirmed the dream. Mawlana sent it to the newspapers, where it was published — a bishārat (glad tiding) to the community of believers.
Closing Verses
The chapter closes with two elegiac poems — one by the author of this biography, one by Hazrat himself — each a final tribute in the tradition of Urdu and Persian verse:
دیکھا تو کچھ نہ پایا سوچا تو بس یہ سمجھا
اک نام رہ گیا ہے میرا تری گلی میں
پیوند خاک ہوگا نقشۂ قدم بنے گا
حضرت یہ جان ہی کر آیا تری گلی میں
"I looked and found nothing; I thought and only understood this —
One name of mine remains in your alley.
When merged with the dust, it will become the footprint's trace —
O Hazrat, I came to your lane knowing it meant giving my life."
اندھیری گور میں خورشید تاباں بن کے چمکے گا
مرے سینے میں حسرت داغ عشق روئے احمد کا
"In the dark grave he will shine like a radiant sun —
In my breast, Ḥasrat's burning mark of love for the face of Aḥmad, the Prophet ﷺ."
The pen-name "Ḥasrat" — meaning longing and grief — was the name Hazrat gave himself in his poetry. In this final verse, it shines in both its meanings at once: the longing of the poet for his master, and the master's own longing for the face of the Prophet ﷺ, which had consumed his entire life and which, at 3:38 on the 17th of Shawwāl 1381 AH, he finally beheld without veil.