Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi

One of the great shaykhs of the Chishtiyya in India; deputy of Nizam al-Din Awliya and heir to his Delhi lodge. His full name is Shaykh Nasir al-Din Mahmud b. Yahya; he is known by the epithet Chiragh-i Dehli (the Lamp of Delhi).

He was born in 673 (1274) or 675 (1276) at Awadh in northern India. His family was of Iranian origin. At the age of nine he lost his father, a wealthy wool merchant; his mother took great care over his education. He studied the religious sciences with Mawlana Abd al-Karim Shirwani and Mawlana Iftikhar al-Din Gilani. From his youth he preferred to devote himself to asceticism, self-discipline and worship rather than to scholarship.

At twenty-five he withdrew from the world and lived for some fifteen years in the forests outside Awadh, fasting continually. At forty or forty-three he left the Awadh region for Delhi and joined the disciples of Nizam al-Din Awliya, the most celebrated Chishti shaykh, known as "sultan al-mashayikh".

He soon became his master's favourite disciple and received the khilafa in 724 (1324). Regarding the sama so beloved of the Chishtis as contrary to the Sunna, he did not attend Nizam al-Din's sama gatherings, and his shaykh accepted this attitude with goodwill. After some time in Delhi he asked his shaykh's leave, through another disciple, the poet Amir Khusraw Dihlawi, to withdraw once more to the forests and mountains; Nizam al-Din advised him instead to remain in Delhi and bear the hardships he met there.

On Nizam al-Din Awliya's death (725/1325) he took charge of the lodge his master had founded; all the Chishtis of Delhi began to gather around him, and it was for this reason that he received the epithet "Chiragh-i Dehli". He was subjected to the pressures of the Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad b. Tughluq, long hostile to the Chishtis: whereas Chishti principles required distance from rulers, the sultan demanded their service, took him by force as keeper of the robes on several campaigns, and once had him imprisoned. Bearing these trials with great patience, Chiragh-i Dehli played a major part, after Muhammad b. Tughluq's death (752/1351), in Sultan Firuz's accession to the throne of Delhi. Sultan Firuz treated him and the other Chishtis with great respect and endowed his lodge with great wealth.

In 754 (1353), while worshipping alone in his retreat cell, he was stabbed by a Qalandar named Turab; he survived, and with his customary patience and resignation prevented the assailant's punishment, even giving him a sum of money. He died on 18 Ramadan 757 (14 September 1356). By his will his body was washed by his disciple Sayyid Muhammad Gisudaraz; also by his will, the cloak and rosary he had received from Nizam al-Din Awliya were buried with him.

His Circle of Influence — As the shaykh who gathered the Chishtis of Delhi under one roof, he represents the continuity of the order in northern India. Among his disciples was Sayyid Muhammad Gisudaraz, regarded as the founder of Deccan Chishtism; the source notes that it is not certain he appointed him his deputy. Another disciple, Hamid Qalandar, compiled his master's discourses.

His Poetry and Sufi Line — He was a shaykh who set no store by poetry and even held that composing verse could harm a dervish; for this reason he left no work. As a method of remembrance he laid great weight on recollecting God with every breath (pas-i anfas); regarding the sama as contrary to the Sunna, he represents a distinct line within the Chishti tradition. His sayings in assembly (malfuzat) were compiled by his disciple Hamid Qalandar in the book Khayr al-majalis.

His Tomb and Complex — His tomb was built by Firuz Shah. The source records that the tomb is today in a ruined state and that the inhabitants of the quarter where it stands are mostly Hindu; Muslims visit the tomb on the anniversaries of his death.