Mystical Teacher
Šayḫ Niẓām al-Dīn Awlīyāʾ spent most of his life in Delhi as the leader of the Čishti mystical order. Though he maintained a dignified distance from politics and political leaders he nonetheless expanded the Čishti order into a movement for mass spiritual culture throughout the country. He was extremely popular and widely venerated during his lifetime, a status perhaps only matched by the thousands of pilgrims that visit his mausoleum until today. Šayḫ Niẓām al-Dīn Awlīyāʾ died in 725/1325.
Discourses of his are extant in four collections, two of which relate to accounts of prophets and saints. One such work, Favāʾid al-fuʾād, is a collection that contains biographical material related of early Čishti Saints. It was transcribed by Ḥasan Dihlavī in 707/1307-719/1319 and 719/1319-722/1322. It has been said of Favāʾid al-fuʾād that in it Awlīyāʾ gave “a revolutionary direction to religious activity by emphasizing that service of mankind brought greater spiritual reward then mere formal prayers”.