Hazrat Tawsa Sharif, a small town in Pakistan, is home to one of the most influential of the later Chishtiyya saints - Khwaja Suleiman Tawsawi (rahmatullahi alaihi). Khwaja SuleimanÕs wilayah was recognised even before he was born; whilst still in his motherÕs womb, a pious saint used to come and pay his respects to the yet unborn child. Upon the mother asking the reason for these visits, he told her that her son would be a miraculous child whose spiritual light would illuminate the world from east to west.

As a child, Khwaja Suleiman was visited by another great wali, Khwaja Noor Muhammad Maharwi (rahmatullahi alaihi) in Court Mithan, where he was schooling. Khwaja Noor Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) had been informed by his own Pir-o-murshid, Khwaja Moulana Fakhrudeen (rahmatullahi alaihi), that a mighty personality would become his mureed, by whose grace all creation would benefit. He found him after years of travelling and searching in Khwaja Suleiman Tawsawi (rahmatullahi alaihi). Immediately upon embracing him and becoming his mureed, Khwaja SuleimanÕs (rahmatullahi alaihi) spiritual state changed completely, and he began to engross himself in ibaadah and spiritual exercises.

Later, when only sixteen years, Khwaja Suleiman Tawswi (rahmatullahi alaihi) visited his now ailing murshid and was granted the khilafah. Ordered by Khwaja Noor Muhammad (rahmatullahi alaihi) to propagate Islam and the Chishtiyya silsila, he spread the order to places as far afield as Iran, the Punjab, Baluchistan and India. Finally, he migrated to the city of Tawsa Sharif, where he would remain till the end of his days. Khwaja Hafiz Paak (rahmatullahi alaihi), the great wali who was destined to become his khalifa-e-azam, was one of several hundred thousand mureeds who benefited from Khwaja SuleimanÕs (rahmatullahi alaihi) guidance. Hafiz Paak (rahmatullahi alaihi) also used to recite the QurÕan and Mathnawi of Moulana Rumi (rahmatullahi alaihi) to his murshid.

As well as living the life of a faqeer and being endowed with miraculous attributes, Khwaja Suleiman (rahmatullahi alaihi) was a strict follower of the Shariah. So engrossed did he become in mystical communion with Allah that he used to remain unconscious for hours, but upon awakening, he would enquire as to whether he had missed any salaat during that time. A Hindu yogi once asked him which was greater: Sharia'h or Faqeeri. He replied unhesitatingly, "Shari'ah". Another time, a man insane with AllahÕs love rode naked into his presence while he was in deep meditation. "What are you looking for beneath," the man laughed, "I am here." Yet a simple glance from Khwaja Suleiman Tawsawi (rahmatullahi alaihi) sufficed to sober him. He alighted from his donkey, put on his clothes and immediately offered salaah to Allah.

"That man was in the same wajd as Mansur-al-Hallaj," noted Khwaja Suleiman , "If Mansur had been alive in my time, he would not have been hanged." Mansur-al-Hallaj (rahmatullahi alaihi) was a Persian mystic whose wajd earned him execution. He refused to recant a statement spoken in his ecstasy that expressed his mystical union with God, which was misinterpreted by the orthodoxy as blasphemy. His own murshid, the great Khwaja Junaid (rahmatullahi alaihi) of Baghdad, was forced by the people to pronounce sentence on him. That Khwaja Suleiman Tawsawi (rahmatullahi alaihi) could make such a statement bears testimony to his exalted status among Awliya Allah.

Khwaja Suleiman (rahmatullahi alaihi) passed away on the 7th Safar, 1267AH after spreading the Chishtiyya Silsila for 63 years. He was buried in his roza in Tawsa Sharif, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of mureeds and a world dimmed without his spiritual light. He left his disciples with two great pieces of advice: firstly, perform your salaat wholeheartedly, after the example of the Auliya Allah; and secondly, remain in the company of the pious - in this way shall the love for Allah and his Rasul blossom in your hearts. As is stated in Sura An-Nisa, verse 69: