Muhammad Ghawth (Ghouse,[1]Ghaus orGwath[2][3])Gwaliyari (1500–1562) was a 16th-centurySufi master of theShattari order and Sufi saint, a musician,[4] and the author ofJawahir-i Khams (Arabic:al-Jawahir al-Khams, The Five Jewels). The book mentioning the life and miracles of Gaus named " Heaven's witness" was written by Kugle.[5]
Muhammad Ghawth was born in Gwalior, India in 1500; the name Gwaliyari means "of Gwalior". One of his ancestors wasFariduddin Attar of Nishapur.[6] In the preface ofal-Jawahir al-Khams, he states that he wrote the book when he was 25 years old. In 1549 he travelled toGujarat, when he was 50 years old. He stayed inAhmedabad for ten years where he foundedEk Toda Mosque and preached.[7]
Ghawth translated theAmrtakunda fromSanskrit to Persian as theBahr al-Hayat (The Ocean of Life), introducing to Sufism a set ofyoga practices. According to the scholar Carl W. Ernst, in this "translation", Ghawth intentionally reframed these practices with great subtlety to identify "points of contact between the terminologies of Yoga and Sufism".[8]
Ghawth died in Gwalior in 1562.[9] His followers believed that he ascended to heaven and from there was able to direct help down to them; and further, that he was the "axial saint, the pivot of the universe".[9][10]
"Among Ghawth's disciples is Fazl Allah Shattari (also known as Shah Fazl Shattari),[11] who wrote a biography[12] or monograph[13] in praise of his teacher.[13] Gwawth taught theMughal EmperorHumayun.[14][15] Akbar's court musicianTansen was also familiar with Sufism.[4]Badusha, Abdul Qadir, Shahul Hamid Meeran sahib Ganjasavoy Ganja bakhsh Ganja makhfi of nagore Tamil Nadu and Wajihudden Haidar Ali Sani Hussaini Ulvi Gujrati is also one his important disciple. Muhammad Ghawth died in 1562 CE.[15] Ghawth's tomb, inGwalior (a city inMadhya Pradesh inIndia), which was built in his honour by Akbar,[15] is a well-known tourist attraction and regarded as an excellent example ofMughal Architecture. Tansen was buried in Ghawth's tomb complex.[4]"
His tomb atGwalior is famous of its stone lattices (jali) work.[16] The entire structure isenclosed on all sides by the elaborately and delicately carved stone lattice work.[17]
Ghawth'sJawahir al-Khams
Ghawth's tomb in Gwalior
South-east view of tomb
Sufi saeed Ali Shah was the former caretaker of the shrine.[18]
Jawahir-i-Khamsa (The Five Jewels) which was later translated to Arabic,al-Jawahir al-Khams, by theMecca-based Shattari teacher Sibghat Allah (d. 1606 CE).[8] In this book Gaus also mentioned about the special creatures known as "Muakkil" which comes under the control of sufis by special Islam chant.[19]
Bahr al-Hayat (The Ocean of Life), his translation and extension ofHawd al-Hayat (The Pool of Life), an Arabic translation of a lostSanskrit text onyoga, theAmrtakunda.[20]
