The Niyāzīs* are a tribe of Afghāns. Miyāṅ ‘Abdu-'llāh was at first the disciple of Shaikh Salīm-i-Cishtī* of Fatḥpūr. He used to remain always engaged in his religious duties in the cell close to the Shaikh's new hospice, which is now known as the royal place of worship.* When Shaikh Salīm* returned from his first pilgrimage to the holy places, which he had made by land, Miyāṅ ‘Abdu-'llāh asked his leave to make a pilgrimage to the glorious city of Makkah, and the Shaikh wrote and gave to him a memorandum containing an account of the Shaikhs and men of God whom he had met in the countries of Arabia, Persia, and India, and the Miyāṅ, travelling through most of those regions, sought out those various classes of holy men.

In company with the friends of Mīr Sayyid Muḥammad (may God sanctify his soul!) who had* set up a claim to being the Mahdī and* had travelled to Gujarāt and the Dakhan, the Miyāṅ at last adopted those opinions,* and in the reign of Salīm Shāh, spent his time, in the manner already mentioned,* in Biyāna, in the corner of obscurity and retirement, living without pretensions and without ceremony, being, like ordinary men, free from encumbrances and attachments. And when Islem (Salīm) Shāh, as has been mentioned in the case of Shaikh ‘Alā'ī of Biyāna—may God have mercy upon him!—bitterly persecuted him, being prompted thereto by Makhdūmu-'l-Mulk, and had him severely beaten, with a view to preventing him (from preach­ing his doctrines),* he again set forth on his wanderings, travel­ling in various parts of the world, and in the latter years of his life he abandoned (his belief in Mīr Sayyid Muḥammad's) claim to being the Mahdī, and, retreating* into a corner of retirement in Sirhind, followed the same mode of life as other holy men. When the Emperor rebuilt that cell which was near the Imperial palace he named it the ‘ibādat-khāna (place of worship), and, the name of Miyāṅ ‘Abdu-'llāh being mentioned in connection with it, he was summoned from Sirhind, and had a personal interview with the Emperor, no other person being present, and ^46. His Majesty put questions to him.* The Miyāṅ, disavowing (any belief in) the Mahdawī doctrines, said, “At first the companionship of that sect seemed good to me, and I accordingly inclined to their doctrines, but after that the truth concerning the True God was revealed to me, and I recanted.” His Majesty sent him back with honour, and in the year H. 993 (A.D. 1585) at the time of the expedition to Ātak,* when His Majesty reached Sirhind, he again sent for the Miyāṅ, and offered him some land as madad-i-ma‘āsh,* but he, making contentment his title-deed, * would not accept it, but the Emperor had the grant made out, whether the Miyāṅ would or no, and had it delivered to him, and he, obeying the Emperor's order, received the farmān, but nevertheless forsook not his habit of relying on God alone, and did not in any way concern himself with the grant throughout his life. He made the books Iḥyā* and Kīmiyā* the guides of his actions. In the year in which Ulugh Mīrzā's rebellion took place I was with Muḥammad Ḥusain Khān. I saw the Miyāṅ in Sirhind, and he gave me some profitable lessons from* the Iḥyā, which he had with him.* A friend of his, named Maḥmūd Khān, who had been intimate with him since the days of Islem (Salīm) Shāh, and to whom Shaikh Mubārak, at the time of the persecution* of Shaikh ‘Alā'i had given the title of Saifu-'llāh (“the sword of God”), asked him, “What is the heart?”*

He replied, “Between us and the heart lie a thousand stages. Why do you ask about this matter? Say something on ethics.” Afterwards, à propos of the mention of Mīr Sayyid Muḥammad of Jaunpūr (may God sanctify his soul!) he brought forward an old Mughal and asked him to say what he knew of the Sayyid.* He said, “At the time of the death of the holy Mīr Sayyid Muḥammad of Jaunpūr I was present in Farāh,* when he withdrew his claim to being the Mahdī, and said, ‘I am not the promised Mahdī.’”* God knows (the truth). In the meantime Maḥmūd Khān said softly “Miyāṅ ‘Abdu-'llāh did wonderfully well in sending the unfortunate Shaikh ‘Alā'ī to his death, while he himself retraced his steps.”*

Miyāṅ ‘Abdu-'llāh removed the baggage (of existence) from this borrowed* lodging to the neighbourhood of Divine Pro­vidence (may his dignity be honoured!) at the age of 90, in the year H. 1000 (A.D. 1591-2). May God grant him a dwelling in ^47. the highest heaven!