Biography

The life of Sultan Bahu (RA) is still veiled. What we know about him is mostly through oral tradition. Many quaint stories of Hadrat Sultan Bahu (RA), a lovable and fully illuminated spiritual master, are heard. Despite this obscurity, Hadrat Sultan Bahu (RA)’s life is interesting and inspiring to those he met in his life or after his passing through dream or vision. He remained aloof from limelight. What is known about him is based on a book called Manaqib-i-Sultani, which was written in Persian by Sultan Hamid Sarwari Qadiri (RA), one of his descendants. Hadrat Sultan Bahu (RA) was born around AD 1639 in Shorekot, Jhang, Punjab, the main province of Pakistan, and passed away there in AD 1702. According to another account, he was born in AD 1628 and passed away in AD 1691. From time to time, he continued to till the land and each time he gave away his ox, plough, and entire future harvest to those in need. Hadrat Sultan Bahu (RA)’s life has many parallels to that of Gautama Buddha. He willingly gave up all his earthly possessions in search of spiritual enlightenment and adopted an austere life of renunciation. He also inspired others to find fulfillment, focusing on communion with Allah within one’s heart.