Stories and Sayings of Khwaja Sayyid Amir Kulal

Khwaja Sayyid Amir Kulal (may God sanctify his innermost being), the sixteenth Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain and at the same time, the seventh Khwaja of the ‘Khwajagan’ – the Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia, said the following:-

A huge gathering had assembled one day. The venerable Khwaja Amir Kulal sent for Khwaja Bauhaddin Naqshband, then looked at him and said, “O my son, Bauhaddin, I have completely fulfilled what the venerable Khwaja Baba as-Samasi said on your behalf. For your sake, I have fulfilled whatever obligation there may be in the matter of training. That is because he had given me this command: ‘You must not fail to provide my son Bauhaddin with training and kind treatment. I have acted in accordance with his command.”

Then pointing at his breast, he went on to say, “I have let this garden lie fallow for your sake. I have hatched a bird of spirituality from the egg of human nature. Nevertheless, your bird of aspiration is eager to fly high. You now have the authorization – near or far, wherever you smell a fragrant scent, you must spare no effort in the quest for its source.”

The venerable Khwaja Bahauddin is reported to have said, “When these words issued forth from the venerable Khwaja Amir Kulal, they represented a means of testing, for if we remained completely loyal to the Amir, we would be remote from tribulation and close to safety.”