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One of the masters of the Ḵᵛājagān line in Transoxiana in the 7th and 8th centuries AH; he is famous as Ḵᵛāja ʿAzīzān (Hażrat-e ʿAzīzān). In some sources his nisba appears, through a copyist's error, as “Rāmtīnī”.
He was born around 591 in the small town of Rāmītan, two farsaḵs from Bukhara; he studied the religious sciences in the same town and earned his living as a weaver. Jāmī writes that the “Ḵᵛāja Nassāj” mentioned in a ghazal of Mawlawī (d. 672) is Rāmītanī.
On the Path he was a disciple of Maḥmūd Anjīr Faḡnawī (d. 717); he is counted as Faḡnawī's second successor, after Amīr Ḥosayn Wābkanawī, called Amīr Ḵord. After Faḡnawī's death he attained the leadership of the Ḵᵛājagān.
Most of his life was spent in the environs of Bukhara. At a date that cannot be precisely determined he went from Bukhara to Bāward (Abīward) and from there to Ḵᵛārazm, where he spread the Ḵᵛājagān path; for this reason the people of Ḵᵛārazm called him “Shaikh ʿAlī Bāwardī”. By settling in Ḵᵛārazm he carried the sphere of influence of the Ḵᵛājagān beyond Bukhara and its surrounding villages.
After a long life he died in Ḵᵛārazm at about 130 years of age and was buried there. Faḵr-al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣafī records his death as 715, but hesitantly adds the date 721. Since his master Faḡnawī died in 717 (in 715 according to Dārā Šokōh) and Rāmītanī led the Ḵᵛājagān for about four years, the source considers 721 the more correct date. The Encyclopaedia Iranica likewise relates that in 721/1321, on his deathbed, he appointed Moḥammad Bābā Sammāsī as his sole successor; it adds that Sammāsī must have visited his master in Ḵᵛārazm at least once, for he was present at that moment.
He had two sons: Moḥammad, known as Ḵᵛāja Ḵord, and Ebrāhīm (d. 793), to whom he granted permission to guide disciples. After his death Ebrāhīm directed his ḵānaqāh in Ḵᵛārazm; when the elder son Moḥammad Ḵord died shortly before his father, the succession passed to Ebrāhīm.
His Circle of Influence — Besides Ebrāhīm he trained four successors: Moḥammad Kolāhdūz, Moḥammad Ḥallāj Balḵī (also called Moḥammad Selāḥ), Moḥammad Bāwardī and Moḥammad Bābā Sammāsī (d. 755). The most distinguished of them was Sammāsī, who at Rāmītanī's request adopted Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Naqšband (d. 791) as a child as his spiritual son and undertook his training. Bahāʾ-al-Dīn was deeply influenced by Rāmītanī and attached great importance to his teachings.
His Poetry and Sufi Line — Like his master Faḡnawī he believed in the vocal dhikr. His argument was this: by the consensus of all the scholars it is permissible to say the dhikr aloud, for instance the tahlīl, at the last breath of life; and for dervishes every breath counts as the last breath. When ʿAlāʾ-al-Dawla Semnānī (d. 736) questioned him on this, he answered: “We too hear that you perform the silent dhikr; so your dhikr has become vocal as well.” Nevertheless he did not reject the silent dhikr; he held that the vocal dhikr suits beginners and the silent dhikr suits the accomplished. Dārā Šokōh (d. 1069), in his Ḥasanāt al-ʿārefīn, counts the saying “Would that the people of austerity and striving knew that the way is nearer” among Rāmītanī's ecstatic utterances and interprets it to mean that striving, austerity and worship are not the cause of union. Faḵr-al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣafī (d. 939), who quotes the saying more fully, reports that apart from austerity the nearer way to union is for the seeker to place himself in the heart of a man of heart: since the heart of such a man is the object of God's favour, the seeker too receives a share of that regard and favour. In the Rašaḥāt Ṣafī gives examples of his sayings and poems.
His Works — Some of his sayings were collected by his son Ebrāhīm; a certain Moḥammad b. Neẓām Ḵᵛārazmī Arzangī compiled them under the title Manāqeb-e Ḵᵛāja ʿAlī ʿAzīzān or Resāla-ye ʿAzīzān. Though brief, this hagiography is, together with the Resāla-ye Ṣāḥebīya attributed to Ḡojdovānī, one of the rare documents that inform us about the principles of the Ḵᵛājagān path and the views of its masters. Āqā Bozorg Ṭehrānī's al-Ḏarīʿa mentions a dīvān or collection of poems by him; Saʿīd Nafīsī, pointing to his scattered verses, also attributes to him a book entitled Maḥbūb al-ʿārefīn and a treatise on Sufism, but there is no precise information about these two works.
His Tomb and Complex — According to Jāmī and Faḵr-al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣafī he died in Ḵᵛārazm and was buried there. Reżāqolī Hedāyat writes that he saw his grave in Gorgānj in Ḵᵛārazm. His ḵānaqāh in Ḵᵛārazm was carried on by his son Ḵᵛāja Ebrāhīm.
Miracles
The following are narrations that appear in the source as REPORTS; the atlas records them not as “this is what happened” but as “this is what the sources relate.”
It is well known that Ḵeżr directed Rāmītanī to Maḥmūd Anjīr Faḡnawī to become his pupil. When ʿAlāʾ-al-Dawla Semnānī asked him about this, he refrained from giving a clear answer. (Source: Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām, “Rāmītanī, ʿAlī”)
It is related that Rāmītanī foretold the imminent death of his elder son Ḵᵛāja Moḥammad Ḵord, and that at his indication his son Ebrāhīm succeeded his father. (Source: Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām, “Ḵᵛājagān, Selsela”)
Differing Scholarly Views
Location of the grave — All three sources consulted say that at the end of his life Rāmītanī was in Ḵᵛārazm: Jāmī and Faḵr-al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣafī write that he died and was buried in Ḵᵛārazm, Reżāqolī Hedāyat records that he saw his grave in Gorgānj, and the Encyclopaedia Iranica's account implies that his deathbed was in Ḵᵛārazm. The atlas's earlier record had also noted that some local sources regard a tomb attributed to him in Rāmītan, near Bukhara, as his actual grave; the sources consulted make no mention of a grave in Rāmītan. The atlas does not take sides.
Date of death — Faḵr-al-Dīn ʿAlī Ṣafī gives 715 and hesitantly adds 721; Qāneʿ and Morādābādī also mention this second date. The source states that, taking into account Faḡnawī's date of death and Rāmītanī's leadership of about four years, 721 appears more correct.
Mawlawī's “Ḵᵛāja Nassāj” — Jāmī writes that the “Ḵᵛāja Nassāj” in a verse of Mawlawī is Rāmītanī. The source, however, states that the verse does not refer to Rāmītanī but to another person known as Abū Bakr Nassāj Boḵārī (ʿĀbedī's notes to the edition of Jāmī).
The compiler of the hagiography — The article on Rāmītanī says that Moḥammad b. Neẓām Ḵᵛārazmī Arzangī compiled the hagiography in the 10th century AH; the article on the Ḵᵛājagān counts Arzangī among the disciples of Rāmītanī's son Ḵᵛāja Ebrāhīm (d. 793). The two statements stand in different articles of the same encyclopaedia; the atlas does not choose between them.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 2, p. 436, entry “ALİ RÂMÎTENΔ
- Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām (Dânişnâme-i Cihân-ı İslâm · Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam) — Saʿīd Ṭāvūsī Masrūr · vol. 19, entry “رامیتنی، علی”
- Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām (Dânişnâme-i Cihân-ı İslâm · Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam) — Afsāne Monfared · vol. 16, entry “خواجگان، سلسله”
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — Hamid Algar · vol. Vol. III, Fasc. 3, pp. 294-295, entry “BĀBĀ SAMMĀSĪ”
The sources for this record are listed below (Mandatory Sources).
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Permanent ID: EA-Z-000887 · this address reaches the same record even if its name changes; use it when citing.
External records: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam article