“That which the eyes of Time have never seen,
And which no tongue to earthly ears hath told,
Its tint hath now displayed in this our day:
Arise, and in our day this thing behold!”
* * * *
“From Farthest East to Threshold of the West
I in this age am guide to God's Straight Road.
How can the Gnostic pilgrims me behold?
Beyond the Far Beyond's my soul's abode!”
He preached regularly in the Jámií'i-'Atíq, or Old Mosque, for fifty years, and died at the age of eighty-four, so that his birth must be placed about A.D. 1128. The Atábek Abú Bakr b. Sa'd, the patron of the poet Sa'dí, was his friend and admirer, and he had studied with Shaykh Abu'n-Najíb Suhrawardí (died A.D. 1167-68) in Alexandria. A few further particulars, and several marvellous stories of the kind so common in hagiological works, may be gleaned from the notice of him which Jámí has inserted in his Nafaḥátu'l-Uns (ed. Nassau Lees, pp. 288-290).
Abu'l-Jannáb Aḥmad b. 'Umar al-Khíwaqí (of Khiva or Khwárazm), commonly known as Shaykh Najmu'd-Dín Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá. “Kubrá,” next demands notice. His title Kubrá (whereby he is distinguished from the other celebrated Najmu'd-Dín called Dáya), is, according to the most authoritative and plausible explanation, an abbreviation of the nickname aṭ-Ṭámmatu'l-Kubrá (“the Supreme Calamity”), given to him by his companions on account of his great vigour and skill in debate and discussion. He was also nicknamed Walí-tirásh (“the Saint-carver”), because it was supposed that any one on whom his glance fell in moments of divine ecstasy and exaltation attained to the degree of saintship; and Jámí (Nafaḥát, p. 481) has some wonderful anecdotes to show that this beneficent influence was not limited to human beings, but extended to dogs and sparrows. His title, Abu'l-Jannáb, is said to have been given to him by the Prophet in a dream, its interpretation being that he was sedulously to avoid the world.
That Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá was one of the many victims
who perished in the sack of Khwárazm by the Mongols in
A.H. 618 (= A.D. 1221) is certain, and it is a proof of the high
esteem in which he was held that out of some 600,000 slain on
that fatal day he alone is mentioned by name in the Jámi'u't-
“Who hath seen an Ocean of Learning [drowned] in Oceans of Blood?”
and—
“O Day of Disaster of Khwárazm, which hath been described, Thou hast filled us with dread, and we have lost Faith and Renown!”
suffice to confirm the place, occasion, and manner of his death. On this historical foundation several less credible stories have been raised; these are given by Jámí (Nafaḥátu'l-Uns, pp. 486-7) in the following form:—
“When the Tartar heathen reached Khwárazm, the Shaykh
[Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá] assembled his disciples, whose number
exceeded sixty. Sulṭán Muḥammad Khwárazmsháh had fled, but
the Tartar heathen supposed him to be still in Khwárazm, whither
consequently they marched. The Shaykh summoned certain of his
disciples, such as Shaykh Sa'du'd-Dín Ḥamawí, Raḍiyyu'd-Dín 'Alí
Lálá and others, and said, 'Arise quickly and depart to your own
countries, for a Fire is kindled from the East which consumes nearly
to the West. This is a grievous mischief, the like of which hath
never heretofore happened to this people’ (the Muslims). Some of
his disciples said, ‘How would it be if your Holiness were to pray,
that perhaps this [catastrophe] may be averted from the lands of
Islám?’ ‘Nay,’ replied the Shaykh, ‘this is a thing irrevocably
predetermined which prayer cannot avert.’ Then his disciples
besought him, saying, ‘The beasts are ready prepared for the
journey: if your Holiness also would join us and depart into Khu-
“So when the heathen entered the city, the Shaykh called together such of his disciples as remained, and said, ‘Arise in God's Name, and let us fight in God's Cause.’ Then he entered his house, put on his Khirqa (dervish robe), girded up his loins, filled the upper part of his Khirqa, which was open in front, with stones on both sides, took a spear in his hand, and came forth. And when he came face to face with the heathen, he continued to cast stones at them till he had no stones left. The heathen fired volleys of arrows at him, and an arrow pierced his breast. He plucked it out and cast it away, and therewith passed away his spirit. They say that at the moment of his martyrdom he had grasped the pigtail of one of the heathen, which after his death could not be removed from his hand, until at last they were obliged to cut it off. Some say that our Master Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí refers to this story, and to his own connection with the Shaykh, in the following passage from his odes:—
‘Má az án muḥtashamán-ím ki sághar gírand;
Na az án muflisakán ki buz-i-lághar gírand!
Bi-yakí dast may-i-kháṣṣ-i-Ímán núshand:
Bi-yakí dast-i-digar parcham-i-káfar gírand!’
‘O we are of the noble band who grasp the Cup of Wine,
Not of the wretched beggar-crew who for lean kids do pine:
Who with one hand the Wine unmixed of fiery Faith do drain,
While in the other hand we grasp the heathen's locks amain!’
“His martyrdom (may God sanctify his spirit!) took place in the year A.H. 618 (= A.D. 1221). His disciples were many, but several of them were peerless in the world and the exemplars of their time. Such were Shaykh Majdu'd-Dín of Baghdád, Shaykh Sa'du'd-Dín of Ḥamát, Bábá Kamál of Jand, Shaykh Raḍiyyu'd-Dín 'Alí Lálá, Shaykh Sayfu'd-Dín Bákharzí, Shaykh Najmu'd-Dín of Ray, Shaykh Jamálu'd-Dín of Gílán, and, as some assert, our Master Bahá'u'd-Dín Walad, the father of our Master Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí, was also of their number.”
Of Shaykh Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá's works two at least are preserved in the British Museum. One, a short tract in Arabic of two or three pages only, has as its text the well known aphorism of the Mystics, “The ways unto God are as the number of the breaths of His creatures”: the other, in Persian, is entitled Ṣifatu'l-Ádáb, and treats of the rules of conduct which should be observed by the Ṣúfí neophyte. The great Mystic poet, Farídu'd-Dín 'Aṭṭár, as pointed out by Mírzá Muḥammad in his Introduction to Mr. R. A. Nicholson's edition of the Tadhkiratu'l-Awliyá (vol. i, p. 17), alludes in terms of the greatest respect to Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá in his Madhharu'l-'Ajá'ib, or “Display of Marvels,” and was himself, according to Jámí's Nafaḥát (p. 697), a disciple of his disciple Majdu'd-Dín of Baghdád, of whom in this connection we may say a few words.
Shaykh Abú Sa'íd Majdu'd-Dín Sharaf b. al-Mu'ayyad b. Abi'l-Fatḥ al-Baghdádí is said by Jámí to have come to Majdu'd-Dín al-Baghdádí. Khwárazm originally as a physician to attend on Khwárazmsháh, though from references to other accounts this appears very doubtful. In any case he seems to have attached himself to Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá as one of his disciples, but gradually, as it would appear, he came to regard himself as greater than his master, until one day he observed, “We were a duck's egg on the sea-shore, and Shaykh Najmu'd-Dín a hen who cherished us under his protecting wing, until finally we were hatched, and, being ducklings, plunged into the sea, while the Shaykh remained on the shore.” Najmu'd-Dín Kubrá, hearing this, was greatly angered, and cursed Majdu'd-Dín, saying, “May he perish in the water!” This saying was reported to Majdu'd-Dín, who was greatly alarmed, and sought by the most humble apologies and acts of penance to induce his master to revoke the curse, but in vain; and shortly afterwards Khwárazmsháh, under the combined influence of jealousy and drink, caused him to be drowned in the river. Najmu'd-Dín (somewhat illogically, as we may venture to think), was greatly incensed at this act, which, according to the story, was but the fulfilment of his own prayer, and prayed God to take vengeance on the King, who, greatly perturbed, sought in vain to induce the Shaykh to withdraw his curse. “This is recorded in the Book,” was the Shaykh's answer: “his blood shall be atoned for by all thy kingdom: thou shalt lose thy life, along with very many others, including myself.” As to the date of Majdu'd-Dín's death there is some doubt, the alternative dates A.H. 606 and 616 (= A.D. 1209-10 or 1219-20) being given by Jámí.