Contents
Introduction
Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani
Arif ar-Riwakri
Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi
Ali Ramitani
Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi
Sayyid Amir Kulal
Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshband
Visiting the Sites Associated with the
Seven Saints of the Bukhara Oasis
Endnotes
Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
The thirteenth century Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvaini
could not help but praise the city known as Bukhoro-i-Sharif
—Holy Bukhara—located in what is now the country of
Uzbekistan:
In the Eastern countries it is the cupola of Islam and is in
those regions like unto the City of Peace [Baghdad]. Its
environs are adorned with the brightness of the light of
doctors and jurists and its surroundings embellished with
the rarest of high attainments. Since ancient times it has
in every age been the place of assembly of the great
savants of every religion.1
The environs mentioned by Juvaini included the entire
Bukhara Oasis, a cultivated area now measuring about forty
miles north to south and thirty-five miles east to west (it may
have been bigger in the thirteenth century). Besides the city
of Bukhara itself, the oasis was home to dozens of other
ancient cities, towns, and villages. At the time Juvaini was
writing his paean to Bukhara—in the 1250s—a man named
Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi was living in the village of
Faghni, twenty-two miles north of the city. He may well have
qualified as one of the “great savants” to whom Juvaini
referred. Al-Faghnawi was a member of a line of teachers
and saints that started in the earliest days of Islam and
continues on down to the present day. This lineage has been
called the Naqshbandi Golden Chain by the order of Sufis
known as the Naqshbandi. According to Shaykh Muhammad
Hisham Kabbani (1945–), the deputy leader of the currentday Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order:
The designation of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain has
changed from century to century. From the time of Abu

Bakr as Siddiq [(573–634), a companion and father-inlaw of Muhammad and the first Muslim Caliph following
Muhammad’s death] to the time of Bayazid al-Bistami
[804–c.874] it was called as-Siddiqiyya. From the time of
Bayazid to the time of Adb al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani it
was called the at-Tayfuriyya. From the time of Adb alKhaliq al-Ghujdawani to the time of Shah Naqshband it
was called the Khwajaganiyya. From the time of
Naqshband through the time of Ubayd Allah al-Ahrar and
Almad Faruqi, it was called Naqshbandiyya . . . And
today it is known by the name NaqshbandiyyaHaqqaniyya.2
The seven Khwajaganiyya, often called simply the
Khwajagan, or in English the “The Masters of Wisdom”, all
of whom were born in the Bukhara Oasis, will be our main
concern here. These are:
Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (1103–1179)
Arif ar-Riwakri (1136–1239)
Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi (d.1317)
Ali ar-Ramitani (d.1315/1321?)
Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi (d.1354)
Sayyid Amir Kulal (1287?–1370)
Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshband (1318–
1388/1389?)
Although Ghujdawani is credited with being the first of the
Khwajagan, we must by necessity also mention his teacher,
Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Hamadani. Indeed, sources other than
Kabbani include Hamadani among the Khwajagan.3 In any
case, his teachings heavily influenced the spiritual path
followed by the seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis.

YUSUF AL-HAMADANI

Hamadani was born in 1048 or 1049 in the village of
Buzanjerd, near Hamadan, in what is now Iran. At the age of
eighteen he traveled to Baghdad and took up the study of
Hadith, sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammad, and
Islamic law, with emphasis on the Hanafi school of
jurisprudence. His teacher in Baghdad was the great scholar
Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (d. 1083). “Achieving high distinction,
he [Hamadani] surpassed his fellow students in jurisprudence
and other subjects, especially philosophy,” according to one
fifteenth century historian, and acquired a first class degree.4
He went on to study under renowned scholars in Isfahan and
Samarkand.5 Eventually put in charge of classes of his own,
Hamadani appeared well on his way to a distinguished career
as an academic teacher. Around the age of thirty, however, he
had a change of heart and turned to the esoteric teachings of
Sufism.6 According to one thirteenth century historian:
“He abandoned all of the theoretical speculation to which
he had been devoted and took himself off into retreat to
prepare to dedicate himself to things which really
mattered—the personal life of devotion in God’s service,
to calling people to God, and to guiding his
contemporaries along the right Path.”7

His main teacher on the Sufi path was Abu Ali Farmadi,
who also taught Abu Hamed Mohammad Ghazali, the great
scholar and Sufi who became known as the “Proof of Islam”.
According to one account:
It seems he [Hamadani] was a tall man, slightly built,
with a swarthy and pock-marked complexion. He always
wore patched woolen clothes. Attaching no importance to
worldly affairs, he never consorted with the rich and
powerful. He would accept nothing from anyone, but
gave whatever came his way to people in need . . . He
was cheerful, considerate, gentle, and compassionate.
Whether sitting or on the move, he would be reciting the
Quran. Sometimes he would turn his face toward

Hamadan, shedding many a tear. In divine remembrance
(dhikr/zikr), he used the technique of withholding the
breath, which he carried out to such lengths that he would
sweat profusely.8
For several decades Hamadani led a peripatetic life,
wandering through what are now the counties of Iraq, Iran,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. “He was endowed with
profound rapture and charismatic talent. Over a vast area,
stretching from Baghdad to Samarkand, people would flock
to visit him, in order to derive benefit from his holy breaths,”
according to the Beads of Dew from the Source of Life, a
sixteenth century history of the Khwajagan.9
Eventually Hamadani established a khanaqah (Sufi
teaching center and hostel) in Merv, in what was then known
as Khorasan (now in current-day Turkmenistan). Although he
would not take money meant for himself, he apparently
accepted 50,000 golden coins for the upkeep of his khanaqah
in Merv from the great Saljuq Sultan Sanjar, who had heard
of Hamadani’s saintliness and wanted to pay his respects to
him.10 The khanaqah achieved such fame that it became
known as the “Kaaba of Khorasan”, referring to, of course,
the “Cube” or “Sacred House” in Mecca.11 Luminaries from
throughout the Islamic geosphere soon wended their way to
the khanaqah, hoping to meet and receive the blessings of
Hamadani. Among these was the great Persian poet Sanai,
author of The Walled Garden of Truth and a host of other
mystical works.

Hamadani did not remain full-time at his khanaqah in
Merv. He traveled to Herat, in what is now Iran, and,
according to one account, made thirty-eight pilgrimages to
Mecca, although this hardly seems possible given the
transportation options available at the time.12 He also traveled
to Bukhara and Samarkand, in what was then known as
Mawarannahr (Transoxiania), “the land beyond the river [the
Oxus, or Amu Darya).” In these two cities he attracted some
of his most important followers.
According to the Beads of Dew, Hamadani:
died on the road, while traveling from Merv to Herat. His
blessed body was transported to Merv, where he was

buried. When he was close to death, while assembling his
disciples and giving them advice, he confirmed four of
them as qualified for the post of spiritual directorship,
appointed them his deputies, and showed them the
procedures to be followed in discharging his
responsibility. After that, the disciples clung to the coat
tails of the four deputies.13

These four deputies, who had became Hamadani’s disciples
while he was in Samarkand and Bukhara, were Abdullah
Baraqi, Hasan Andaqi, Admad Yasavi, and al-Ghujdawani.
Little is known about the first deputy, Abdullah Baraqi,
other than that he was from Khwarezm, the region straddling
the lower Amu Darya River before it flows into the Aral Sea.

Hasan Andaqi, the second deputy, was from a village about
ten miles from Bukhara. According to the Beads of Dew:
When he received the stamp and affiliation of the
Spiritual Path from the venerable Khwaja Yusuf
[Hamadani], he experienced such a state of ecstasy that
no space was left in his heart, or even in his
consciousness, for anything relating to this world, such as
an interest in business or home . . . Noticing his situation,
the venerable Yusuf Hamadani gave him this wise advice:
“You are a poor man with a wife and children to support.
You have a personal obligation to attend to basic needs,
the neglect of which is neither reasonable or in keeping
with the Sacred Law.” Gathering all his energy to his lips,
Hasan Andaqi gave the response: “In my present state I
have no strength left for any work.” The venerable Yusuf
Hamadani was offended by this answer, and he
reprimanded Hasan. That night, however, he saw a vision
in which Allah (Glorious and Exalted is He) addressed
him, saying: “Yusuf, we have given you the eye of the
mind, but on Hasan We have conferred both the mind of
the heart and the eye of the heart!”14
In the wake of this dream, Yusuf Hamadani came to hold
Hasan Andaqi in the highest regard and esteem.

Hamadani’s third deputy, Ahmad Yasavi (1093–1166), was
born in the town of Yasi, in north of Mawarannahr (the
current-day city of Turkestan in Kazakhstan). At an early
age he became the disciple of a local teacher by the name of
Baba Arslan. Yasavi remained with Baba Arslan until he
died, and then, following his teacher’s instructions given to
him earlier, moved to Bukhara, where he became a student of
Hamadani and eventually one of his four deputies. After
Hamadani’s death Yasavi remained for awhile in Bukhara,
serving as a missionary and teacher. Then, according to the
Beads of Dew, he received “an indication from the Unseen”
summoning him back to his home town of Yasi. Before he
left he instructed all of his followers in Bukhara who
remained behind to follow the lead of Abdul Khaliq alGhujdawani. Back in his homeland Yasavi became a
esteemed teacher himself. He is the eponym of the
Yasaviyya Sufi order, which greatly influenced subsequent

Turkic Sufi orders, and according to the Beads of Dew he is
the “Top Link” of all subsequent Turkish saints.15 He is also
said to be the first Turkic poet to compose poetry in a Turkic
dialect. His monumental tomb can still be seen in the
Kazakhstan city of Turkistan.
Hamadani’s fourth deputy, Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani,
went on to became the first of the Bukhara Khwajagan.

—1—

ABDUL KHALIQ AL-GHUJDAWANI

Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani was born in 1103 in
Ghujdawan, an ancient city in the Bukhara Oasis about thirty
miles north of the city of Bukhara. His father, Shaikh Abdul
Jamil, was originally from Malataya in eastern Anatolia
(modern-day Turkey), where he was a celebrated scholar.
According to the Beads of Dew, he was:
versed in exoteric and esoteric knowledge alike, and
possessed a remarkable ability for solving problems. He
is reputed to have been on intimate terms with Khidr
(peace be upon him), who told him he would father a
male child, and that he should give him the name of Abd
al-Khaliq [Abdul Khaliq].16

Khidr is the legendary Islamic figure supposedly endowed
with eternal life. He is believed to be the personage who
appears in the Quran as the teacher of Moses. As a messenger
of God, he can appear at any time in any guise and offer
spiritual advice to those in need. Being eternal and able to see
into the future, he knows the ultimate consequences of any
course of action and is thus able to counsel people on what
they should do in the present. Whether he advised Abdul
Jamil to emigrate to Mawarannahr is unclear. Abdul Jamil
did, however, move to Ghujdawan in Mawarannahr where he
married a Saljuq princess (the Saljuq Turks were at the time
the suzerains of Mawarannahr). In due course the couple had
a male child, and following Khidr’s instructions Abdul Jamil
named him Abdul Khaliq. The boy was a brilliant student,
and by the time he was nine he had throughly mastered the
Quran. At the age of thirteen he was sent to Bukhara, where
he studied Hadith, Arabic grammar, and Islamic
jurisprudence.
One day while studying the Quran with his teacher he asked
whether dhikr—the devotional act involving the repetition of
short phrases or prayers—should be done out loud or silently.
His teacher replied, “‘This is subject of esoteric science. If
Allah wishes, He will put you in touch with one of His
Friends, and he will teach you silent remembrance
[dhikr].’”17 Eventually Khidr appeared to Ghujdawani and
taught him how to perform silent remembrance, or dhikr.
Thus the immortal Khidr became one of Ghujdawani’s
teachers, and, according to Ghujdawani, it was Khidr himself
who instructed him to become a student of Hamadani:
“I was barely twenty-two years of age when Khidr (peace
be upon him) commended me to the venerable Yusuf
Hamadani. I was never separated from the Khwaja’s side,

as long as he remained in the region of Bukhara, and I
spent all of my time in his service.”18
Ghujdawani did differ with his teacher on the subject of
dhikr. Hamadani favored audible remembrance, but he chose
not to condemn Ghujdawani’s practice of silent
remembrance: “‘Since you have been so commanded by
Khidr, you must continue!’”

After Hamadani’s death in 1140 Ghujdawani became the
main propagator of his teachings in Mawarannahr. This
spiritual path became known as the Tariqat-i Khwajagan, the
way of the Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom. In a letter to
one of his students Ghujdawani summed up the tenets of this
path:
This is my advise to you, O my son: You must throughly
imbue yourself with knowledge, good conduct, and true
devotion. Make a profound study of the Islamic classics .
. . steer clear of ignorant zealots . . .
Do not seek fame, for in fame lies calamity. Do not get
involved in other people’s affairs. Do not frequent the
company of kings and princes.
Do not build a dervish convent or live in one. Do not
engage too often in sacred music or dance, for overindulgence in this is fatal to the life of the heart . . .

Speak little, eat little, and sleep little. Avoid the crowd
and preserve your solitude . . . Avoid marriage as long as
you can, for its worldly demands will be detrimental to
your religious life.
Do not laugh excessively, for undue hilarity deadens the
heart.
Treat everyone kindly and look down on no one. Do not
embellish your outer appearance, for ornament is a mark
of inner poverty. Do not get into quarrels. Ask favors of
none, and do not let yourself be a burden to others.
Place no trust in this world, and do not rely on worldly
people . . . Let your home be a house of worship and let
the Lord of Truth (Exalted is He) be your most intimate
friend.19
In addition, Ghujdawani laid down eight principles that
would become the foundation of the path taught by the
Khwajagan and later by the Naqshbandi.20 These are:
Awareness in breathing—Be present at every breath. Do
not let your attention wander for the duration of a single
breath. Remember yourself always and in all situations.
Watching over one’s steps—Keep your attention before
you at every step you take. You wish for freedom and you
must never forget it.
Internal mystical journey—Your journey is towards your
homeland. Remember you are traveling from the world of
appearances to the World of Reality.
Solitude in the crowd—In all your outward activity
remain inwardly free. Learn not to identify yourself with
anything whatsoever.

Recollection—Remember your Friend, i.e. God. Let the
prayer (dhikr) of your tongue be the prayer of your heart.
Restraining one’s thoughts—Return to God. No aim but
to attain Reality.
Watching one’s thoughts—Struggle with all alien
thoughts. Keep your mind on what you are doing whether
outwardly or inwardly.
Remembering—Be constantly aware of the quality of the
Divine Presence. Become used to recognizing the
Presence of God in your heart.
Before he died Ghujdawani entrusted four deputies with the
task of carrying on his teachings. These were Ahmad Siddiq,
Awliya Kabir, Sulaiman Garmini, and Arif ar-Riwakri. It was
the latter, Arif ar-Riwakri, who became the main propagator
of the Tariqat-i Khwajagan and the second of the Khwajagan
of the Bukhara Oasis.

—2—

ARIF AR-RIWAKRI

Arif ar-Riwakri was born in 1136 in what was then the
village of Riwakar, twenty-five miles north of Bukhara and
ten miles west of Ghujdawan. Riwakri was fated to live
during one of the most tumultuous events in the history of the
Bukhara Oasis: the invasion of the Mongols under the
leadership of Chingis Khan. The Mongols arrived in
Mawarannahr in late 1219 and in February of 1220 they
sacked and almost completely destroyed the city of Bukhara.
Several well-known imams, including Jalal-al-Din Ali b. alHasan Zaidi, were killed during the assault on city.21 Chingis
Khan’s relationship with Sufis, however, was ambiguous. He
is said to have met and consulted with Khazrati Qussam
Sheikh (1192-1238), the grandson of Yasavi, one of the

aforementioned deputies of Hamadani, but he apparently
ordered the murder of another one of Yasavi’s grandsons,
Djabbar Khoji.22 (Khazrati Qussam Sheikh’s elaborate
mausoleum complex can be seen in the city of Qarshi, east of
Bukhara; Djabbar Khoji’s mausoleum, a popular pilgrimage
site, is deep in the Kyzyl Kum Desert sixty-five miles west of
Qarshi.23) Chingis Khan also held in high regard Najm al-Din
Kubra (1145-1221), the famous Sufi from Gurganj, in
Khwarezm, who was the eponym of the Kubrawiyya Sufi
order. Chingis Khan sent Kubra a message warning him of
the upcoming Mongol assault on Gurganj and invited the Sufi
to join his own camp, an offer which Kubra refused. He was
eventually killed during the Mongol assault on Gurganj.
According to one legend circulating in Sufi circles Chingis
Khan also had an encounter with Riwakri.
Chinghis Khan stopped in Riwgara [Riwakar] before
beginning the siege of Bukhara. Most of the population
had fled, but Khwaja Arif [Riwakri] remained and was
seen working at a loom of his own invention. Chinghis
Khan was impressed by his tranquil demeanor and by the
skill with which he worked. He asked through an
interpreter for an explanation. Khwaja Arif replied: “My
outer attention is on my work and my inner attention is on
the Truth; I have no time to notice what is happening in
the world around me.” Chinghis Khan was so pleased
with this reply that he ordered that the inhabitants of
Riwgara should be left in peace and invited Arif to go
with him to Bukhara to advise him as to whom he should
trust.24
According to another Sufi tale, Riwakri personally
intervened to alleviate the plight of the citizens of Bukhara:
The entire population was ordered to evacuate the city

which was given over to plunder. Owing to the severe
winter, there was much suffering. It is said that Arif
pleaded with Chinghis Khan to let them return, foretelling
that an act of clemency at that moment would facilitate
his victory over the Khwarazmshah [ruler of
Mawarannahr]. Apparently, Chinghis Khan accepted this
just as he would have taken advice from his shaman and
allowed the population to return within a few days.
Because of this, Bukhara recovered more rapidly than
other cities . . . there is little doubt that the Khwajagan in
Bukhara were instrumental in saving the lives of tens of
thousands of people.25
These tales may be at least in part apocryphal, but historical
sources do indicate that Bukhara did make a remarkable
recovery in the decades following the Mongol sack of the
city, and the Khwajagan and their followers appeared to have
prospered. According to historian Devin DeWeese, “It is
clear that many Sufi communities proved particularly adept
at exploiting the opportunities brought by Mongol rule [and]
became significantly more prominent and influential, socially
and politically, than they had been previously.”26

We know little more about Riwakri. We are told that he
was very handsome, and that his appearance earned him the
nickname of Mohi-Tobon—Bright Moon. He is not known to
have written anything himself, but his students did record
many of his sayings. These include:
Trust in God until He becomes your Teacher. Make the
Remembrance of Death your partner.
Too much hope in the future veils you from the good
found in Allah’s Way.
Whoever says ten times in a day, “Oh Allah Guide the
Nation of Muhammad. Oh Allah Bless the Community of
Muhammad. Oh God! Remove all afflictions from the
Community of Muhammad,” will be written among the
group of saints known as the substitutes or transformed
ones.
Whoever asks for Paradise without any good deeds it will
be written for him as the Sin of Sins. Whoever awaits

intercession without a cause, has a form of pride.
It is surprising to see so many Righteous, and yet so few
Truthful believers.
To achieve healing from any affliction keep your
affliction secret from people because they can be of no
benefit to you. They can neither help you nor can they
keep it from reaching you.
There are three kinds of hearts: the heart like a mountain,
which nothing can move; the heart like a palm tree, its
roots firm but its branches in motion; and the heart like a
feather, which the wind blows from right to left.
Who hopes to protect his religion, must avoid the
company of people.
O Allah, whenever you want to punish me, do it, but
don’t keep me away from Your Presence.27
Toward the end of his life Riwakri retired from public life,
citing as a reason Gujdawani’s precept of “avoiding fame”.
One of his main disciples, Mahmud al-Injir al-Fagnawi,
became the third Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis. Riwakri
died in 1239, reportedly at the age of 103, and was buried
near his birthplace, now known as Safirhon.

—3—

MAHMUD AL-INJIR AL-FAGHNAWI

Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi, the third of the seven
Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis, was born in what was then
the village of Faghni, twenty-two miles north of Bukhara.
The date of his birth is unknown. “According to
eyewitnesses,” says one source, Faghnawi “was slightly
above medium height, with an open and smiling face . . .
Having an unusually white skin, he wore a thick black beard,
which nicely set off the white turban—an indispensable
attribute with which [he] has never parted.”28 He was trained
as a carpenter, and even after acquiring the leadership of the
Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis from Riwakri he and his
family lived solely on what he made from carpentry.
Remaining in his small village, he refused to meet with

important people from Bukhara who came to visit and when
not practicing carpentry devoted himself to Sufi practices and
the training of his successors. According to the Beads of
Dew, “A dervish saw Khidr in the time of Khwaja Mahmud
[Faghnawi], and he asked him, ‘In this day and age, who is
the spiritual guide to whom allegiance should be paid, and
who is firmly established on the highway of righteousness?’
Khidr replied ‘He is Khwaja Mahmud Anjir Faghnawi.’”29

He is credited with introducing to his students the practice
of audible remembrance (zikr-i jahri). It will be remembered
that the immortal Khidr had allegedly commanded
Ghujdawani to practice silent dhikr. When asked why he
practiced audible dhikr, Faghnawi replied, “So that sleepers
may awaken, so that the heedless may hear, and so that they
may incline towards the path of Truth, towards the goal of
the Sacred Law and the Spiritual Path.”30 (Some
commentators have suggested that the famous dictum of the
early twentieth century magus George Gurdjieff, “Man is

asleep; he has no ‘I’ and he can know nothing until he wakes
up,” is derived from Faghnawi’s words.31) Elaborating on
this, Faghnawi added, “Audible remembrance is appropriate
for that person whose tongue is preserved from lying and
back-biting, his throat from unlawful and dubious food, and
his innermost being from indulgence in things apart from the
truth.”

According to Ali ar-Ramitani, one of Faghnawi’s main
disciples, he, Ramitani, was sitting one day doing dhikr with
his companions when a white bird alighted on his head.
“Oh Ali,” it [the bird] said in a clear voice, “do not
abandon manliness. Be courageous!” Those in the circle
were so affected by these clear words from the bird’s
beak that they lost consciousness. When their minds came
back into their heads, they asked, “What is this state of
affairs?” They received the answer, “‘The venerable
Khwaja Mahmud [Faghnawi] is that bird. Allah has

granted him a charismatic gift that makes him fly, in the
manner discussed in so many thousand words with the
Prophet Moses.’”
Several dates for the death of Faghnawi have been posited,
including 1286, 1307, 1315, and 1317. The year 1317 (717
a.j.) is probably the most accepted.32 He was entombed in a
mausoleum near his birthplace, about twenty-two miles north
of Bukhara. Ali ar-Ramitani, the second deputy of Faghnawi,
became the fourth of the seven Khwajagan of the Bukhara
Oasis.

—4—

ALI RAMITANI

Ali Ramitani was born in the ancient city of Ramitan, about
twelve miles north of Bukhara. Like Faghnawi, Ramitani
pursued a profession, in his case weaving. He was also a
serious student of the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic
jurisprudence and eventually became famous for his legal
decisions (fatawa). At some point in his life he sought
spiritual guidance from al-Faghnawi and under the latter’s
guidance began to follow the esoteric path of the
Khwajagan. Such was his progress on the path that he
eventually acquired the title of Azizan, which in Persian
means “one of elevated station”.
Numerous people sought out his advice. One local Sufi,
Shaykh Rukn ad-Din, sent one of his disciples to ask

Ramitani three questions:
First question: Like you, we try not to fall short in service
to the people. You do not take too much trouble in
providing food and drink. You give whatever is available.
As for ourselves, we go to great lengths in hospitality. We
always look for something extra and exert ourselves to
the utmost, yet people approve of you and complain about
us. What explanation can there be?
Answer: There are many who provide service as a favor,
in exchange for gratitude, but few who consider it a favor
to be allowed to serve. Strive to feel gratitude for the
opportunity to serve, till nobody complains about you any
more.
Second Question: We have heard that you received your
training from Khidr (peace be upon him). How could that
be?
Answer: There are true lovers among the servants of
Allah (Glorious and Exalted is He), and Khidr is their
ardent lover.
Third Question: We have heard that you engage in
publicly audible remembrance (dhikr jahri), instead of
silent remembrance (dhikr khaki). How can this be?
Answer: We have also heard that you perform the
remembrance in secret. Since we have come to hear of it,
it cannot be secret remembrance at all. Surely the purpose
of secret remembrance is that nothing should be known of
it! Whether you engage in secret remembrance or in
publicly audible remembrance, the two are equal. It can
even be said that being famous for secret remembrance is
closer to hypocritical ostentation.33

The great scholar Shaykh Mawlana Badruddin al-Midani
asked Ramitani, “God has ordered us in the Quran to do
excessive dhikr by his Saying, ‘Remember God excessively.’
Is that dhikr to be by the tongue or the heart?”
Ramitani replied:
“For the beginner it is best that it be done by the tongue,
and for the adept it is best that it be done by the heart.
This is because, for the beginner to remember God, he
must apply a great deal of effort. Since his heart is
distracted and unstable and his efforts are scattered, it is
better for him to do it with the tongue. But the adept has
already polished his heart and is easily affected by dhikr.
All of his organs become rememberers so that the whole

body of the adept, both externally and internally,
remembers God at every moment. The equivalence of this
is that one day’s dhikr of the adept is equal to one year’s
dhikr of a beginner.”34
Yet another scholar asked him, “With what kind of
remembrance are we commanded to remember Allah very
frequently indeed? Is it verbal remembrance, or remembrance
of the heart?”
He replied, “it begins with remembrance from the tongue
and ends as remembrance from the heart. In its initial
form, it involves the expenditure of tiresome effort and
fatigue. In its final form, however, due to the influence
exerted by the remembrance on the heart, it effects all the
organs and atoms of the body, so that one reaches the
reality of the ocean of being, and attains to the secret of
the frequent remembrance. A day’s work of this nature
yields profit equal to that earned by a year’s work of any
other kind.”35
Elaborating on the subject of audible remembrance, he told
another prominent scholar:
There is a Prophetic tradition accepted by all the religious
scholars, commanding a man in the throes of death to
pronounce the affirmation of Divine Oneness in a loud
voice. Since every breath breathed by a dervish can be
considered his last breath, it is necessary to seek this
wisdom in our publicly audible remembrance.36

Among Ramitani’s many pronouncements:
Confess your shortcoming and continue work.
Attain to the Presence of the Divine, especially when you
are eating and when you are talking.
The Prophet said, “Allah looks at the heart of the Believer
every night and day 360 times.” This means that the heart
has 360 entrances. And every organ has 360 roots, all of
them connected to the heart. So if the heart, under the
influence of Dhikrullah [the words Dhikr and Allah
combined, meaning “Remembrance of Allah”], is led to
the station of Allah’s Gaze, this will lead all organs of the
body to the Gaze of Allah. As a result, every organ will
be obedient to Allah and from the light of that obedience

every organ will be connected to the Divine Outpouring.
This is what draws the Gaze of Mercy from Allah to the
heart of the Rememberer.”37
At some point in his life Ramitani moved to Khwarezm, the
province centered on the lower reaches of the Amu Darya
River before it debouches into the Aral Sea. Upon reaching
the gates of the capital city he sent two dervishes to
Khwarezm Shah, the ruler of the province: According to the
Beads of Dew, he instructed them: “Go and say to the Shah:
‘A poor weaver [Ramitani, remember, was a weaver by
profession], has come to your gate. He wishes to reside on
your city. If your permission is granted, he will enter; if not
he will turn away.’ You must say these words exactly and,
assuming that permission is given, receive a sealed document
from the Shah in his own hand.” The Shah, surprised that a
poor weaver would apply to him personally for permission to
enter the city, considered the whole matter a joke, but he
went ahead and gave Ramitani a signed and sealed document
granting him permission to reside in the city. He settled in a
small house in a quiet quarter of the city and slowly began to
attract followers. Word of his teachings spread and
eventually “the whole of Khwarezm was at the venerable
Azizan’s door. All the people were trampling one another in
order to grasp the hem of his gown.”
Word of Ramitani’s popularity soon reached the advisors of
the Shah. “‘A Shaik has been discovered in the city,’” they
told the Shah. “‘The entire city is at his back and in his
footprint. If it goes on like this, his affiliates will become so
numerous that, in contrast with your influence, your royal
influence will sink to zero. A remedy for this business must
be sought.’” The Shah ordered the revered teacher out of
town, but Ramitani sent the ruler a written message reading:
“‘In our breast pocket we carry a sealed document, stating

that we shall be able to enter the city and reside therein. If the
Shah invalidates his own permission and his own seal, we are
ready to depart.’” Abashed by this message, the Shah was
unwilling to contradict his own decree. Instead he went to
meet Ramitani face-to-face. “That was the end of the
problem,” the Beads of Dew tells us, “for he immediately
became one of the venerable Azizan’s most devoted
affiliates.”38

Legends about Ramitani abound. According to one, there was
a man named Sayyid Ata who used to meet with Ramitani
and receive teachings. At one of their meetings Sayyid Ata
acted disrespectfully in the presence of his teacher. Shortly
thereafter Sayyid Ata’s son was taken prisoner by marauding
nomads. Sayyid Ata perceived that this calamity was a result

of his impertinence towards Ramitani. In order to make
amends, he invited his teacher and a host of other notables to
a banquet. Sitting at the table Ramitani held out his hand over
the food and pronounced, “‘So long as Sayyid Ata’s captive
son has not entered by this door and sat at this table, and so
long as he has not joined us in this meal, [I] will not touch the
food.’” He kept his hand outstretched until, to the utter
amazement of all present, Sayyid Ata’s son came running
into the room. Asked to explain himself, the boy replied, “‘I
cannot offer any explanation. A gang of savage looters took
me prisoner and carried me off to their country, keeping me
very tightly bound. We spent several days on the road. Now,
lo and behold, I suddenly see myself in your midst and in my
homeland.’” According to the Beads of Dew, “Everyone fell
at the feet of the venerable Azizan, in a state of submission,
inspired by this tremendous charismatic marvel.”39
Ramitani had two sons, Muhammad Khurd and Ibrahim.
Both followed their father’s spiritual path and were welltrained in both exoteric and esoteric teachings. When he felt
the end of his life approaching Ramitani appointed his
younger son Ibrahim as his deputy. Asked why he passed
over his older son, he replied, “The reason is that Khwaja
[Muhammad] Khurd will migrate to the other world soon
after me!”40 Ramitani died in either 1315 or 1321, reportedly
at the age of 130. Muhammad Khurd died nineteen days
later, at the age of eighty. Before he died, however, Ramitani
passed on the spiritual directorship of the Khwajagan not his
son Ibrahim but to Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi, who
became the fifth Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis.

—5—

MUHAMMAD BABA AS-SAMMASI

Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi was born in the village of
Sammas, about sixteen miles northwest of Bukhara,
apparently in 1287.41 As a young man he memorized the
Quran and Hadith and eventually became a renowned scholar
in the fields of jurisprudence, speculative philosophy, logic,
and history. At some point he became a follower of Ramitani
and embarked on the esoteric path of the Khwajagan.
Apparently he spent time with Ramitani during the latter’s
sojourn in Khwarezm, but then later returned to the Bukhara
Oasis.42 He secluded himself on a daily basis and maintained
a constant struggle against his lower self (nafts). He
eventually became famous for his miraculous feats.

According to Sammasi:
“One time I went to see my shaikh, Shaikh Ali arRamitani. When I entered his presence, he said to me, ‘O
my son, I am seeing in your heart the desire for an
Ascension.’ As soon as he said that he placed me in the
state of vision, where I saw myself walking day and night
from my country to reach the Mosque of the Dome
Masjid al-Aqsa [in Jerusalem]. When I reached Masjid alAqsa, I entered the mosque and I saw a man there,
clothed all in green. He said to me ‘Welcome, we have
been waiting for you for a long time.’ I said, ‘O my
shaikh, I left my country on such and such date. What is
today’s date?’ He answered, ‘Today is the 27th of Rajab.’
I realized I had taken three months to reach the mosque,
and to my surprise I had arrived on the same night as the
night of the Prophet’s Ascension.”43

The man in green told Sammasi to enter the Mosque of the
Dome, where, much to his astonishment, he found Ramitani
already present. “‘O my son,’” he told Sammasi, “‘I have
been ordered by the Prophet to accompany you from the
Mosque of the Dome to the Sidratul Muntaha [the Lote tree
that marks the end of the Seventh Heaven, the boundary
beyond which no creation can pass, according to Islamic
teachings], the same place to which the Prophet ascended.’”
The man in green then produced, according to Sammasi,
“two creatures the like of which I had never seen before. We
mounted these creatures and we were lifted up. Wherever we
ascended, we acquired knowledge of those stations of what
was between Earth and Heavens.”
Sammasi went on:
“It is impossible to describe what we saw and learned in
that ascension, because words cannot express what relates
to the heart, and it is not conveyable except by taste and
experience. We continued until we reached the State of
the Reality of the Prophet (al-haqiqat alMuhammadiyya), which is in the Divine Presence . . .
Then I heard the Prophet’s voice saying to me, ‘Ya
Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi, O my son, that path you
are on is one of the most Distinguished ones, and those
who have been chosen to be stars and beacons for human
beings will be accepted in that path. Return, and I am
supporting you with all my power, as Allah is supporting
me with His Power. And keep in the service of your
shaikh.’”44
:

Among Sammasi’s pronouncements:
You must keep in the association of a saint. In that
association you must keep your heart from gossiping and
you must not speak in their presence in a loud voice, nor
should you be busy in their company with prayers and
voluntary worship. Keep their company in everything.
Don’t talk when they are speaking. Listen to what they
say. Don’t look in their homes at what they have,
especially in their rooms and their kitchens. Never look
towards another shaikh but keep the belief that your
shaikh will make you arrive. And don’t ever connect your
heart to another shaikh, as you might be harmed by that.
Leave behind whatever you have been raised on in your
childhood.45
The seeker must always stand on his keeping Allah’s
Divine Orders, and he must be constant in the state of
purity. He must first have a pure heart that never looks
towards anything but Allah Almighty and Exalted. Then
he must keep pure that inner self, which is never revealed
to anyone. That is perceiving the true vision. The purity
of the chest (sadr) consists of hope and contentment with
His Will. Then purity of the spirit, which consists of
modesty and reverence. Then purity of the stomach,
which depends on only eating permitted food, and
abstinence. This is followed by purity of the body, which
is to leave desire. This is followed by purity of the hands,
which consists of piety and endeavor. Then comes purity
from sins, which is regret and heartbreak for past
wrongdoing. After this is purity of the tongue, which
consists of dhikr and asking forgiveness. Then he must

purify himself from neglect and slackness, by developing
fear of the Hereafter.46

One day Sammasi was passing through the village known as
Qasr-i Hinduvan (Palace of the Indians), located about five
miles northeast of Bukhara. “The land hereabouts gives off
the inimitable scent of a hero. ‘The Pavilion of the Indians’
will very soon became the ‘Palace of the Truly Wise [Qasr-i
Arifan],’” he exclaimed. “I sense that the child has been born.
Let us go and pay a visit!” It turned out that a baby had been
born in the village three days earlier. They went to the home
of the child and found him in his grandfather’s arms.
Sammasi exclaimed, “This is my son. We accepted him as
such a long time ago.” By this he meant that the boy was his
spiritual progency. The child was Muhammad Bahauddin
Naqshband, who would became the seventh of the
Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis.

Sammasi continued: “‘This is the very hero whose scent we
noticed. Before long, this child will become the paragon of
the age and the saving guide of the people of Love!’”
Sammasi then addressed Sayyid Amir Kulal, one of his
students and candidate for deputyship of the Khwajagan:
“‘Do not refuse the training of my son Baha ad-Din, and be
sure to treat him with kindness and affection. If you are
negligent in this, I shall not make any right of mine lawful to
you.’” Kulal replied, “‘I am no man if I fail you in the
slightest!’”47
Sammasi died in 1354 and was buried near his birthplace in
the village of Sammas. He had four deputies: Sufi,
Muhammad Sammasi (his son), Danishmend Ali, and Sayyid
Amir Kulal. The directorship of his order was passed on to
Sayyid Amir Kulal, who became the sixth Khwajagan of the
Bukhara Oasis.48

—6—

SAYYID AMIR KULAL
Sayyid Amir Kulal was born in what was then the village of
Sukhar, about six miles east of Bukhara. His father, Saif udDin Hamza, was the head of the tribe to which the family
belonged and a highly respected scholar. According to his
mother, “‘While I was carrying Amir [Kulal] in my womb, I
would suffer a stomach ache every time I ate dubious food.
When this had happened several times, I realized that
everything was due to the radiant nature of the child I was
carrying in my womb, and that he was an extraordinary
creature. After that, I became very wary of every morsel I
took into my mouth, and I awaited my child with high
hope.’”49

Following the precepts of the Khwajagan, which advised

taking up a trade, the young Sayyid Amir Kulal became a
potter (his name, Kulal—actually a nickname—meant
“potter” in the local dialect). He also excelled in his religious
studies and was eventually named head of a madrassa in
Vabkent, about eighteen miles north of Bukhara. Oddly
enough, he also became one of the better known wrestlers of
his time. His matches attracted big audiences, and at one of
them a spectator wondered, “‘How can a Sayyid, a
descendant of the Prophet . . . engage in wrestling? How can
he indulge in a frivolous sport, which may be considered an
heretical innovation?’” At this moment the spectator fell
asleep and dreamed that he was drowning in a swamp.
According to the Beads of Dew: “Then, lo and behold, the
venerable Amir Kulal appeared before him, held out his
muscular arms, and pulled him out of the mire with a single
tug. The man woke up, and noticed that Sayyid Amir Kulal
was watching him during the wrestling match. Sayyid Amir
Kulal addressed him from a distance, saying, ‘Yes, indeed,
we practice wrestling in order to rescue the likes of you, by
dragging you out of the mire!’”50

Even Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi, the Fifth Khwajagan,
came to watch Kulal wrestle. Some of his disciples were also
present and they wondered why such an illustrious figure as
Sammasi would waste his time on what many religious
figures thought a frivolous spectator sport. Reading what was
passing through their minds, Sammasi said to them, “‘In this
fighting arena is a hero, by the grace of whose attentive care
and fellowship so many heroes will attain to perfection. My
gaze is directed at him. It is my attention to captivate him.’”51
The Beads of Dew goes on:
From afar, he [Sammasi] watched the venerable Sayyid
Amir Kulal with a profoundly penetrating gaze. Sayyid
Amir noticed this watchful gaze, and he became frozen
with his eyes on the venerable Khwaja Sammasi. Once
this gaze had affected the inner feeling of Sayyid Amir,
the Khwaja got up and left, along with his disciples. As

for Sayyid Amir, however, he had dedicated his heart to
Muhammad Baba Sammasi. No thought, no will and no
desire of his own remained within him. He abandoned the
wrestling match, followed the Khwaja home, and clung to
the hem of his gown while gasping for breath.52

Sayyid Amir Kulal became Sammasi’s most devoted
student. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, he rode
twenty miles from Sukhar to Sammas to take instructions
from his teacher. This went on for some twenty years. He
was never again seen in a market or wrestling arena. “The
venerable Sayyid Amir strove so hard on the path of the
Masters of Wisdom, that no one could have an inkling of his
spiritual state,” the Beads of Dew tells us, “Behind the veil of
complete secrecy, he ascended to the final rungs of the ladder
of perfection.”53 Indeed, very little more is known about his
life.

Kulal had four sons, Amir Burkhan, Amir Hamza, Amir
Shah, and Amir Umar, all of whom chose a spiritual path. He
also had four deputies: Mawlana Husam ad-Din Sashi
Bukhari, Mawlana Kamal Maiden, Amir Buzurg, and Amir
Khurd. When he died, however, Kulal named as his
successor and Seventh Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis
Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshband, who as a small
child had been put in his care by the Fifth Khwajagan,
Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi.

—7—

MUHAMMAD BAHAUDDIN SHAH
NAQSHBAND

As related earlier Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshband
was born in 1318 in the village of Qasr-i Hinduvan (Palace of
the Indians), five miles northeast of Bukhara. His original
name was Baha al-Din (Bahauddin). He later acquired the
sobriquet Naqshband, the exact derivation of which is
uncertain, but may refer to the imprint (naqsh) of “the Divine
name Allah that is fixed in the heart through constant and
silent invocation.”54 As mentioned, three days after his birth
Baha al-Din was adopted by the Fifth Khwajagan Sammasi
as his spiritual progeny. Sammasi also gave him the name
Khwaja Bala-Gardan (the “averter of disaster”), a moniker by
which he was later referred to in Bukhara.
Sammasi put Baha al-Din in the care of his own disciple,

Amir Kulal, and apparently did not come in contact with him
again until he was asked to approve of the wife Baha al-Din’s
grandfather had chosen for him. Meanwhile Amir Kulal
oversaw Baha al-Din’s spiritual training. He proved to be a
stern teacher, often critical of Baha al-Din’s apparent
complacency and punishing him by making him fetch water
and perform other mundane tasks. A spiritual breakthrough
occurred when Baha al-Din had a vision in which the First
Khwajagan, al-Ghujdawani, who had died back in 1179,
appeared before him and imparted various teachings and
initiations.
Baha al-Din himself described the encounter:
“In the beginning of my travel on the Way, I used to
wander at night from one place to another in the suburbs
of Bukhara. By myself in the darkness of the night,
especially in the wintertime, I visited the cemeteries to
take a lesson from the dead. One night I was led to visit
the grave of Shaikh Ahmad al-Ajgharawa and to read alFatiha for him. When I arrived, I found two men, whom I
had never met before, waiting for me with a horse. They
put me on the horse and they tied two swords on my belt.
They directed the horse to the grave of Shaikh
Mazdakhin. When we arrived, we all dismounted and
entered the tomb and mosque of the shaikh. I sat facing
the Qiblah, meditating and connecting my heart to the
heart of that shaikh. During this meditation a vision was
opened to me and I saw the wall facing the Qiblah come
tumbling down. A huge throne appeared. A gigantic man,
whom no words can describe, was sitting on that throne. I
felt that I knew him. Wherever I turned my face in this
universe I saw that man. Around him was a large crowd
in which were my shaikhs, Shaikh Muhammad Baba asSamasi and Sayyid Amir Kulal. Then I felt afraid of the

gigantic man while at the same time I felt love for him. I
had fear of his exalted presence and love for his beauty
and attraction. I said to myself, ‘Who is that great man?’ I
heard a voice among the people in the crowd saying,
‘This great man who nurtured you on your spiritual path
is your shaikh. He was looking at your soul when it was
still an atom in the Divine Presence. You have been under
his training. He is Shaikh Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani
and the crowd you are seeing are the khalifs who carry his
great secret, the secret of the Golden Chain.”55
This experience earned Baha al-Din the epithet of Uwaisi,
or one who receives spiritual knowledge from a teacher—
often one who has died earlier—without physically meeting
him in this world.
As a result of the instructions he had received from
Ghujdawani, Baha al-Din practiced only silent dhikr.
Whenever Amir Kulal and his disciples engaged in audible
dhikr Baha al-Din would leave the room. Amir Kulal
students apparently resented this and began berating Baha alDin. Amir Kulal replied to them:
“You have lapsed into a bad opinion concerning my son,
Baha al-Din, and you have come to regard him of
shortcoming. This condition of yours arises from failure
to understand Baha al-Din. A special grace is bestowed
upon him by Allah . . .”
In the presence of all of his followers, Amir Kulal then
continued:
“Baha al-Din, my son, I have looked after you in
fulfillment of the dying wish of Khwaja Muhammad
Baba Sammasi. I have trained you as I have promised, for
he told me to prepare you with the utmost care to be a

teacher in your own right. This I have now accomplished
. . . I have nourished you with all I had to offer, and now
the bird of your spiritual prowess is ready to leave the
nest. Your influence for good will soar like a royal falcon.
Henceforth, you are fully qualified. Whenever the scent
of wisdom reaches your nostrils, you must follow that
scent with all the dedication your high calling
demands.”56

For the next twenty or more years Baha al-Din interacted
with a succession of teachers, including Mawlana Arif,
Khalil Ata, Muhammad Parsa, and Mawlana Zain ad-Din. He
made two pilgrimages to Mecca, one in the company of
Muhammad Parsa, and spent time in Nishapur (in the
current-day Iran), Herat (in current-day Afghanistan), and
Merv (in current-day Turkmenistan). Finally he took up
resident in his birthplace of Qasr-i Hinduvan where he
remained for the rest of his life. When his former teacher

Amir Kulal was on his deathbed he advised his students to
attach themselves to Baha al-Din. Even after all these years
some of his students protested, “‘But he has not been
consistent with you in the practice of audible
remembrance!’” Amir Kulal replied, “‘Everything you
observe in him is by Allah’s decree, and his own volition
plays no part on the matter.’”57
To the eight principles that Ghujdawani, the First
Khwajagan of the Bukhara Oasis, had laid down as the
foundation of the path taught by the Masters of Wisdom
Baha al-Din added three more. These included:
Awareness of Time
It means to watch one’s composure and check one’s
tendency to heedlessness. The seeker must know how
much time he has spent in moving towards spiritual
maturity and must recognize at what place he has arrived
in his journey towards the Divine Presence. The seeker
must make progress with all his efforts. He must spend all
his time making his one and only goal the arrival at the
station of Divine love and Divine Presence. He must
become aware that in all his efforts and in all his actions
Allah witnesses the smallest detail. The seeker must make
an account of his actions and his intentions every day and
every night and analyze his actions each hour, each
second, and each moment. If they are good, he thanks
God for it. If they are bad, he must repent and ask Allah’s
forgiveness.
Awareness of Numbers
This means that the seeker who is reciting dhikr must
observe the exact number of repetitions entailing the
silent dhikr of the heart. To keep an account of the dhikr

is not for the sake of the account itself, but is for the sake
of securing the heart from bad thoughts and to cause it to
concentrate more in the effort to achieve the repetition
prescribed by the shaikh as quickly as possible. The pillar
of dhikr through counting is to bring the heart into the
presence of the One who is mentioned in that dhikr and to
keep counting, one by one, in order to bring one’s
attention to the realization that everyone is in need of that
One whose Signs are appearing in every creation.
Awareness of the Heart
This means to direct the heart of the seeker towards the
Divine Presence, where he will not any see other than his
Beloved One. It means to experience His Manifestation in
all states . . . In such a state one concentrates the place of
Dhikr inside the heart because this is the center of power.
All thoughts and inspirations, good and bad, are felt and
appear one after another, circling and alternating, moving
between light and dark, in constant revolution, Inside the
heart Dhikr is required in order to control and reduce that
turbulence of the heart.58
Baha al-Din died on March 2, 1389. On honor of him, the
name of his birthplace was changed from Qasr-i Hinduvan
(Palace of the Indians) to Qasr-i Arifan (Palace of the Truly
Wise). According to legend, this name change had been
foretold by Khwaja Sammasi. He was buried in Qasr-i
Arifan, now commonly known as Bavaddin, the local
pronunciation of Baha al-Din. His tomb complex is now one
of Inner Asia’s most sacred pilgrimage sites and is visited by
hundreds of thousands of people each year. Baha al-Din
Naqshband was the last of the Seven Khwajagan of the
Bukhara Oasis. His successors on the spiritual path he taught
would be known as the Naqshbandiyya, or simply the

Naqshbandi. The current-day Naqshbandi Order now has
followers throughout the world.

VISITING THE SITES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
SEVEN SAINTS OF THE BUKHARA OASIS

The mausoleum complexes of the seven Khwajagan are
popular pilgrimage sites and are regularly visited by people
from throughout Inner Asia and the rest of the world. All
seven of the complexes can be visited on day trips from the
city of Bukhara. There is public transportation to the
Naqshband Complex and to the town of Ghujdawan. The
most convenient way to visit the other sites is to hire private
transportation. Most drivers should have no problem finding
them. If you want to travel on your own here are the GPS

coordinates:
Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani: N40º06.187' / E64º40.661'.
Twenty-fives miles north-northeast of Bukhara in the town of
Ghujdawan.
Arif ar-Riwakri: N40º07.349 / E64º30.028'. Twenty-five
miles north of Bukhara, in the city of Safirhon.
Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi: N40º03.818' / E64º29.293'.
Twenty-two miles north of Bukhara.
Ali ar-Ramitani: N39º54.636' / E64º16.047'. Fourteen miles
northwest of Bukhara.
Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi: N39º54.732' / E64º12.947'.
Sixteen miles northwest of Bukhara.
Sayyid Amir Kulal: N39º46.342' / E64º34.321'. Six miles
east of Bukhara.
Muhammad Bahauddin Shah Naqshband: N39º48.072' /
E64º32.225'. Five miles northeast of Bukhara.

ENDNOTES
1 Juvaini, 1997, p.97.
2 Kabbani, 2004, p.63. This is Kabbani’s definition of the Khwajagan. Other
sources include teachers before and after the Seven Saints of Bukhara among the
Khwajagan. Indeed, some suggest that the Khwajagan exists to this day as a
separate order within the Naqshbandi. Most commonly included among the
Khwajagan is Hamadani.
3 See for example Algar, 2011. Beads of Dew from the Source of Life: Histories
of the Khwajagan, The Masters of Wisdom (Safi, 2001), written in 1503, also
names Hamadani as the first Khwajagan.
4 Abdal-Rahman Jami’s Nafahat al-Uns, quoted in Shushud, 1983, p.7
5 Shushud, 1983, p.8
6 Algar, 2011
7 Ibn Khallikan, quoted in Trimingham, 1998, p.54
8 Shushud, 1983, p.9, paraphrasing a biography by Hamadani’s student
Ghujdawani, the first of the Bukhara Khwajagan.
9 Safi, 2001, p.2
10 Shushud, 1983, p.10
11 Algar, 2011
12 Algar, 2011
13 Safi, 2001, p.2
14 Safi, 2001, p.3
15 Safi, 2001, p.3
16 Safi, 2001, p.14
17 Safi, 2001, p.15
18 Safi, 2001, p.14
19 Safi, 2001, p.14
20 Ghujdawani’s eight principles are dealt with at length elsewhere. This short
summary is adapted from Speeth, 1980, p.91. For a very detailed treatment see
Ali-Shah, 1992, pp.68–174; also see Shushud, 1983, pp.25–26 and Mawlana Ali
ibn Husain Safi, 2001, pp.17)
21 Juvaini, 1997, p. Also see Croner, 2014, pp.84–106 for a detailed description
of the invasion of Mawarannahr and the sack of Bukhara.
22 Croner, 2014, pp.148–149.
23 At N38º59.273’ / E064º32.760’
24 Bennett, 2013, Kindle Locations 2298-2304.
25 Bennett, 2013, Kindle Locations 2307-2313.
26 See Juvaini, 1997, pp.107-108 for the recovery of Bukhara. See DeWeese,
2006. pp. 23-60 for the relationship between Sufis and the Mongols.
27 Kabbani, 2004, p.176.
28 Kabbani, 2004. p.183
29 Safi, 2001, p.32.

30 Safi, 2001, p.31.
31 Bennett, 2013, Kindle Locations 2388-2393.
32 Kabbani, 2004.
33 Safi, 2001, p.33.
34 Kabbani, 2004, 185.
35 Safi, 2001, p.34.
36 Safi, 2001, p.34.
37 See http://www.naqshbandi.org/chain/14.htm; also Kabbani, 2004, p.184 and
Safi, 2001, p.34.
38 Safi, 2001, pp.38-39.
39 Safi, 2001, pp.36-37.
40 Safi, 2001, p.34; Kabbani, 2004, p.187; Shushud, p.32.
41 See http://asiatravel-discoveries.com/sufism-in-uzbekistan-sayid-amir-kulal.
The website does not give a source for this date.
42 Algar, 2011.
43 See http://naqshbandiorg.wpengine.com/golden-chain/the-chain/muhammadbaba-as-Sammasi/; also Kabbani, 2004, p.192-193.
44 See http://naqshbandiorg.wpengine.com/golden-chain/the-chain/muhammadbaba-as-Sammasi/; also Kabbani, 2004, pp.192-193.
45 See http://naqshbandiorg.wpengine.com/golden-chain/the-chain/muhammadbaba-as-Sammasi/; also Kabbani, 2004, p.191.
46 See http://naqshbandiorg.wpengine.com/golden-chain/the-chain/muhammadbaba-as-Sammasi/; also Kabbani, 2004, p.191.
47 Safi, 2001, p.41
48 Shushud, 1983, p.33
49 Safi, 2001, p.42.
50 Safi, 2001, p.43.
51 Safi, 2001, p.43.
52 Safi, 2001, p.43.
53 Safi, 2001, p.44.
54 Algar, 2011.
55 Kabbani, 2004, p.207.
56 Safi, 2001, p.59.
57 Safi, 2001, p.60.
58 See http://naqshbandiorg.wpengine.com/golden-chain/the-chain/muhammadbahauddin-shah-naqshband/. Also see Kabbani, 2004, pp.220-221.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Readers interested in more detailed information about the
Khwajagan and the Naqshbandi Order should consult
Kabbani’s Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi
Tradition. For a broader and more idiosyncratic treatment of
the Masters of the Wisdom see Bennett’s The Masters of
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