From a chance encounter with a saint to miraculous healing, a story of spiritual transformation
There used to be a renowned saint who lived in a beautiful scenic valley in a remote, far-flung area of Kashmir, with many of his pupils. His teachings were known to be very effective, and many of his students grew up to become great Sufis themselves. He was a saint of high repute and used to visit the home of Uzair, who was in his teens during the boyhood days of his life. An octogenarian old man, who was lean, thin, clean-shaven, and wore a white cap on his head, was not able to walk properly and carried a staff to support him to walk freely. It was the Urs days of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani (RA), and he, while performing the ritual duties at the shrine, visited the house of Uzair to get some relief as he had not slept during these days. The saint liked this family very much and had a good relationship with this boy whom he called his second son. He treated him well and sometimes passed a good amount of holy offerings to him and gave him blessings every time.
On one occasion, he took a bread piece from his cup of tea and passed it into his mouth. Hardly did he know what it meant. “You will touch new heights. May God protect and keep you in your safety. You are too young to know the secrets which have kept your mind busy,” the saint smilingly told him. “I may no longer be available to you every time, but you will be in my thoughts, and I have my good prayers with you every time.” With these words, the saint left the place and never visited their home until his last breath. Uzair was too young to realize and know what pir/murid is about. He had never before heard this word, let alone experienced it, but suddenly his life completely changed. He wanted to know more about this subject and got deeply interested in knowing the deep secrets of spirituality.
He brought books about Sufism and kept himself busy by reading all the stuff about it. Most of the time he spent was in the company of saints, to know more. Every day his life changed. He roamed around shrines to get to know more about what spirituality is all about and received a blessing in turn for a hefty sum of money. Much change was visible in him. Now every Thursday, he used to visit the shrine of Sheikh Hamzah Makhdoom (RA) in downtown Srinagar to find peace and solace. He liked going there and spent most of the time in the company of holy men there. But going there didn’t satisfy his inner desire to know more about spirituality and why and what we are for in this world. He wanted to learn more about this subject.
“It is good for you to make a bayat with some holy saint; he will help you to come out from this trauma which you are going through,” one of his close friends suggested, realizing how difficult the period his friend is going through right now. He didn’t understand what his friend said to him, but his words were reverberating in his mind. From the shrine stairs, he cried all his heart out till he reached the museum of the shrine. Everyone was watching him and trying to console him with their words. They had never seen such an incident in their life when a young man like him cried his heart out for help inside the museum.
His cries didn’t go to waste. A saint probably came to his help. He saw something strange in his lucid dream. A haloed man asked him to sit near him, showing him a picture of a man and asking him to recognize the face of this man who had given him a piece of bread in his teens. It had been almost 30 years before he had met him at home, and he had left the eternal world way back before saying farewell goodbye to him. He was in the doldrums, not able to speak properly. In the first instant, he was very much thinking about who this person was, but finally, he was able to recognize him. The saint told him that he is your murshid. “I have come to help you to get out of this trauma that you are having right now. Hope you will be free from your worries now.” The dream diminished, and he was awake to thank the saint for all the help he got from him.
Days passed peacefully in his life. He was now looking for someone with whom he could share his secrets and his experiences of spiritual know-how which he had gained so far. He had not moved much behind. His search ended when another saint of repute came into his life who knew his family very well. Suddenly his life took a U-turn. In the early wee hours of the morning, when the sun was about to shine and the people had just woken up to get prepared for the prayers, he became seriously ill and was about on his deathbed, and the saint was called in to look after him to recite final prayers.
“The words he is speaking are not ordinary. This is Ilham, and I was carefully examining him all through the night. His condition deteriorated during these hours of transition,” the worried saint, who was called by them to look and take care of him through this period of transition, told them. The family was very worried about him as he had not taken any naps. It was all the sweat that was gushing from his body all through the whole night. The saint was examining him very closely in the wee hours of the morning. Although he had taken his last breath, now they were reciting the holy Quran to him to console his soul and body.
All were astonished when his breath was back, and he showed the moment of life. It was the second life to the body who, a few hours before, was all looking dull and void. The saint, at last, took his hand and took him outside of the house where a haloed man with a snow beard and cap on his head was keenly looking at him in the wee hours of the morning. His face was radiant and was well attained, probably the same man who came and helped him in his dream. He seemed to possess some supernatural powers to heal, and it was just one glance of the saint he got back to life, and the remedy worked for him. All his worries were relieved, and he went a step further in the quench for his thirst to know more about spiritualism.
The story, as per the writer, is based on a true incident. The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at uh*****@***il.com