Literary Compositions Of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A.

In history various Sufi saints have also been renowned writers and poets. These friends of Allah worked for spiritual upliftment of people and acted as bridge between man & God. For this they also wrote various books, though literary achievement has never been their focus but they ended up being high grade writers and poets.

Other than being a great Sufi saint of 19th century Hazrat Shah Niyaz ( R.A.) was also a great literary figure of that time. Other than being the master of tasawwuf he was also a great scholar of Tafseer (Science of explanation and interpretation ) Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence.), and Hadees (oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad ).

At present the information regarding 14 of the books written by Hazrat Shah Niyaz (R.A.) is available.Hazrat Shah Niyaz ( R.A.) used to write books as per the requirement of his individual student and disciple and this books were taken by those individuals to their respective places. In times contact has been lost with various of his Khulfas who belong to other part of the world and so there is no excess to those books. Secondly in the 1857 gadar a part of the khaneqaah was burnt in fire and due to that also the access has been lost to various books.

LIST OF BOOKS WRITTEN BY HAZRAT SHAH NIYAZ ( R.A.)-

01. Risaala Raaz-o-Niyaz
02. Shams-ul-Ain Shareef - It is named as 'Kashf-ul-Ghain Min Shams-ul-Ain' in the Sahitya Akaadmi ( academy) book 'A History Of Indian Literature'.
03. Noor-ul-Ain
04. Tohfa’e Niyaz ba Hazrat-e-Be-Niyaz – Its Subject is Tasawwuf & language Farsi (persian)
05. Hashiyah Sharah ‘Mulla Jalaal’ - Commentary on works by Hazrat Mir Zahid Mulla Jalaal, on religious philosophy. The language is Arabic.This books shows the authority of Hazart Shah Niyaz R.A. had on the topic of religious philosophy and the Arabic language.
06. Hashiyah Sharah ‘Chagmani’
07. Risaala Tasmeet-ul-Maraatib
08. Risaala Mantaq – This was written for Hazrat Aal-e-Rasool Saheb R.A. Mahrera Shareef ,who was the Peer-o-Murshid of Hazrat Imaam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi R.A.
09. Mazmua Qasaaid-e-Arbiya – It contains Qaseeda in praise of Maula Ali KWK,Panjatan Paak A.S. and Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique R.A., the khamsa in praise of Hazrat Maula Ali KWK has 21 band and the khamsa in praise of Panjatan Paak has 32 band.The language is Arabic.
10. Sharah Qasaaid-e-Arbiya – In this book Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. has written the sharah of his Arabic Qaseedas in Farsi and Arabic containing reference from Quran,Hadees and various Sufi sources.
11. Bayaaz – The language is Farsi (persian) – This book provides the date of visaal of Hazrat Nizaamuddin Aurangabadi R.A. and details of Hazrat Maulana Saheb R.A. stay in Delhi with his poetry.
13. Deewan-e-Niyaz Urdu – Contains poetry of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. in Urdu & Hindi dialects.
14. Deewan-e-Niyaz Farsi - Contains poetry of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. in Farsi ( Persian).
Sahitya Akaadmi (academy) book 'A History Of Indian Literature' written by Mr. Sisir Kumar Das gives the year 1834 as the publication year for deewan of Hazrat Shah Niyaz which the last year of his life.
The 'Records of Government, North western province' vol-IV published by Government Press, Allahabad in 1868 mentions a press for Agra 'Mutba-e-Qadiri' which earned Rs. 500 by printing Farsi & Urdu Deewan of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. at the cost of Rs. 1 per copy.
The most circulated and famous was the version published by Munshi Nawal Kishor Press.

Sayings of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. in books of Radha Swami Satsang Beas written by sant Kirpal Singh Ji

Radha Swami Satsang Beas is a spiritual movement started by Baba Jaimal Singh in 1891,who was a disciple of Sant Shiv Dayal Singh,the founder of Radha Swami faith.The basic belief of this movement was to follow the teachings of various mystics or Sant Mat and develop love and respect for all and discover the full potential of human being.This movement has been carried forward by various independent branches.

Sant Kirpal singh (the disciple of Baba Sawan Singh)has spread this movement in various parts of the world.He has written various books which contains the teachings of various religious scripture including Guru Granth Saheb,Quran,New Testament,Vedas and various mystics including The Sikh Gurus,Kabir,Hafiz,Mailana Rum,Khwaja Gharib Nawaz,Mira,Dadu etc.
In his books he has constant mention of sayings of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A.

Starting with his book "Gurumat Sidhdhant" which he wrote on instruction of His Guru Baba Sawan Singh and published it in his name,while discussing about the true lover of God who has no attachments towards the world he quotes Hazrat Shah Niyaz-

I have sacrificed the austerities of this world, my meditation, etc., at the Lotus Feet of my God. My religion is love for Him and to be intoxicated in that bliss. I keep myself dyed in the colors of His Love. Oh, you ascetic! Please listen to me in the name of my God! You should discontinue your austerities and rituals, and instead should drink the cup of wine of the Love of God. The intoxication from that bliss is much more exhilarating than any other intoxication. You cannot find such bliss anywhere else.

After that Sant Kirpal says that Lovers do not believe in salvation by means of reading scriptures alone. They read only the scripture of love and quotes Hazrat shah Niya R.A.-

O my Lord! Teach us the one word of your love. I do not wish to waste my life in reading stories about you.

In the same book while discussing shabd(audible God) he compare it with Sultan-ul-Azkar the sufi practice of repetition of Ism-e-Azam(the greatest name).He imphasizes on the sufi belief of the inner voice being the voice of God,which is called as Kalaam-e-Elahi or Sot-e-Sarmadi.Here he again quotes Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. who said -

The world is filled with the Divine Sound, open the portals of your ears; listen to the Eternal Sound; It is beyond the reach of dissolution

Continuing the same Sant Kirpal says that the beloved is always speaking to us but we do not listen to him and quotes Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. who said-

My Beloved is always addressing you. Alas! You listen not to the words of the Ancient One.

In his another book named Naam or word,which also deals with the consepts of Naam,Shabd and Kirtan Sant Kirpal mentions Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. in various places.He gives evidence of concept of Naam in various religion and coming to Islam he quotes with others Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. who said-

Soul is the Will and the Secret of God. Its meditation is carried on without the help of tongue and palate.Alas! Thou art stuck fast in the physical bondage and do not hear the Holy Sound of God. My Beloved is speaking to thee all the while, but woe to thee for thou heareth not the Voice.

Again Shah Niyaz R.A. says-

The whole universe is resounding with the Sound, and thou hast only to open the door of thine ears.For opening the ears, it is sufficient to stop hearing the outer sounds. If you do this, you will hear the perpetual and unending Sound. It is infinite and has no beginning nor end, and on account of that,It is called Anhad (i.e., without any limits). Without this Word-the Eternal Sound-an expression of the Infinite, the world could not have come into existence. Hold communion with the Melodious Sound and lose yourself in it, O wise man.

Referring to the Sound in teachings of Sufis he quotes Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A.-

The whole world is reverberating with Sound,To listen to It thou must unseal thine inner ears,Then shalt thou hear an Unending Music,And that shall lead thee beyond the confines of death.

In the same book Sant Kirpal tells that we can tune with the divine sound if we can introvert and stop listening to the outer sounds of the world around us and quotes following saying of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A.-

Sound is pervading the whole world in Its fullness,
Ye can surely listen to It with transcendental hearing,
This ye can do by closing the outer bodily ears,
For surely then shall ye hear the endless song,
And It shall take you beyond the sway of destruction and dissolution.

Discussing on Anhad Naad,the devine sound which doesn't depend on any limitations,he describe Anhad as unceasing, eternal or limitless sound as the term literally means and quotes the saying of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A.-

Hear thou one continuous and unending Music,
A music that is eternal and beyond the confines of death.

Again

When It has no beginning and no end,
It is therefore called Anhad or endless.

In his book "Jap Ji" which is the a translation of Bani of Guru Nanak he quotes the above mentioned saying of Hazrat Shah Niyaz R.A. related to Sultaan-ul-Azkaar and Ism-e-Aazam.

In another book named "Crown of Life" Sant Kirpal while telling that God has given us the outer ear to enjoy the melodies of sound, and the inner hearing with which we may hear the Voice of our Creator he quotes Hazrat Shah Niyaz who wrote-

Oh God, lead me to the place from where flows the ineffable
Kalma without words