One of the drawbacks of regular columnists, even distinguished writers, is that they tend to miss the obvious. As one writes about Lahore and its history the one place missed so far is the shrine of Ali Hasan Hajveri, better known as Data Sahib, located opposite Bhati Gate.

The grave of this great Sufi scholar is almost 950 years old, and was initially a simple mud grave next to a small mosque built by Data Sahib himself, whose full name was Syed Hafiz Haji Abu’l Ali Hasan bin Usman, bin Ali Al-Jalabi Al-Hajveri. He was born in Hajveri in Ghazni in the year 1009AD, where he became famous as a Persian Sufi mystic of the Junaidi tradition, and an Islamic scholar. He came to Lahore with Masud Ghazni, the son of Mahmud, the Turko-Afghan invader from Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 1041AD. He died at the age of 63 years in 1072AD in Lahore.

My association with the area known as Data Sahib -- by local inhabitants -- is that we once lived just 200 yards away on Rattigan Road. Every other day one passed by the shrine, occasionally coming across acquaintances enjoying a free meal. As a journalist I once gave an exclusive story about the local police being behind an instructional book on ‘How to Pick Pockets’. The IGP complained to my Editor -- the great AT Chaudhry -- who scolded me in front of the police team, only to recall me 30 minutes later to say: ‘Great Story’. I presented him the book.

But there are always limitless stories to be had about this almost 1,000-year-old shrine. Amazingly, Abu’l Ali Hasan of Hajveri was against shrine and idol worship and very much for reasoned interpretations of the Holy Quran. But then mystical examples exist about how he drank milk from a pot of a poor woman, throwing the rest in the River Ravi. The sage told her to go home and milk her cows till all her pots were full.

Word of this happening spread, and the local governor, Rai Raju -- himself a mystic of sorts -- sent his holy men to him, and none returned. So he went himself and in an attempt to impress started to fly in the air. Ali Hasan ordered his shoes to fly up and bring him down. This impressed Rai Raju, who immediately converted to Islam. Whether this is true or fiction, one cannot say.

Abu’l Ali Hasan lived in Lahore for 21 years, in-between going once to Damascus to visit the grave of Bilal Habshi, where his spiritual guide Hazrat Abul Fazal stayed. Bilal Habshi is among the great Islamic personalities who is greatly under-rated. On Abu’l Fazal’s death he returned to Lahore. He married twice, but then both wives died soon after their marriage, producing a son named Hasan.

For some reason all the great Sufi saints who headed towards the sub-continent were asked – mystically -- to first spend some time at the shrine of Data Sahib, and to meditate, and then as ‘instructed’ proceed onwards. Starting from Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (1165AD) right till this day, almost all Sufi saints spend a few weeks at this place to meditate. In his lifetime he wrote over ten books, including ‘Kashful Mahjub’, a masterpiece and the first book about mysticism.

In Lahore, as well as the entire sub-continent, he is surely the most venerated of all Sufi saints, and his shrine is the most-visited in the entire South Asia. Given the massive incomes that this shrine generates, it was ‘nationalised’ in 1960. Today it provides over a third of all incomes that the Punjab Auqaf Department collects from hundreds of other shrines.

The most interesting episode, which is mentioned in his ‘Kashful Majhoob’ was that when he reached Lahore, it was late in the evening and the funeral of Hazrat Sheikh Khwaja Hasan Zanjani was coming out of the city gates. It is claimed that he was honoured to lead the funeral prayers. Zanjani is buried in Chah Miran.

In a way the origins of the Sufi tradition of Islam in the sub-continent has its origins in the teachings of Ali Abu’l Hasan Hajveri. But scholars of both Sunni and Shia sects claim him as their own. It goes without saying that his description of the four Caliphs is unmatched. He states that the origin of Sufism lay in the worldly doing of Abu Bakr, while in Ali is the true model for all Sufis, for he lay down the principles as regards “the endurance of affliction”. About Husayn ibn Ali he is of the opinion that the principles of Sufism can be found in the behaviour of all Sufis.

About the shrine of Ali Abu’l Hasan Hajveri a bit of its history might interest the reader. The original mosque was built by the sage himself in mud bricks. It was a single-room mosque where he led the prayers five times every day, and in one corner spent his mystical time. It was here that he spread the word of Islam, which spread all over the sub-continent. After he died he was buried next to his mosque.

For over 200 years this remained the simple grave and mosque. The first rebuilding of this single-room mosque took place when the local population expanded the graveyard and rebuilt a much larger mosque. Come the Mughals and the Emperor Akbar decided to honour the saint with an engraved marble room over the grave, and well as a much larger mosque in Mughal style.

This mosque remained in place till Gen Ziaul Haq, himself an admirer of the sage, got the mosque and the shrine expanded on the grounds that when his ‘Urs’ (annual festival) takes place almost 100,000 people crowd the restricted premises. This poses major management problems. On normal days the numbers swell to over 20,000 a day, for people come from far and wide to visit the shrine. Given the current communal mind-set this is not surprising.

In this brief piece one example might bring forth the power of belief that people have in this saint. A lady visiting us informed that she was off to Data Darbar to pray for a personal problem. She returned half an hour later looking aghast. “As I entered an old man stopped me and taking my exact correct name said: “Go back, what you wish will never happen.” He told her of the exact problem.

This is one of countless experiences people have. I have personally been there more as a journalist, or showing tourists around, but never experienced any such happening. In the lanes outside live eunuchs, drug peddlers, pickpockets, cooks, and scores of other professions connected to the shrine. For almost a thousand years life has continued … and probably will for another thousand years.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2023