Given these realities of history, is it any wonder then to find that more qasaaid (poems, called manqabat in Urdu) have been composed in praise of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani Rady Allahu ‘Anhu than on any other saint? A preliminary survey of these eulogies in various languages yields the following results:

A: In Arabic

Some of the mashaayikh who have eulogised on Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani in their qasaaid (religious poetry) in Arabic are:

Imam ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad, in Ad-Durr u’l Manzum Li-Dhawi’l ‘Uqul wa’l Fuhum, p. 240.

Shaykh ‘Afif ud-Din Muhammad al-Yafi’i al-Yamani, quoted in Qalaid al-Jawahir, p. 552.

Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Qadi Ishaq of Egypt, widely known as Ibni al-Fattah al-Misri, quoted in Qalaid al-Jawahir, p. 557.

Shaykh Uways bin Muhammad al-Qadiri of Somalia.

Two of his poems on the Shaykh are given in Jawhar un Nafis (p. 102-107). The first one, consisting of 45 verses is on Baghdad, in the poetical meter of waafir. The second, which has 34 verses, is a Nuniyya in that all the verses rhyme in the letter “nun”. It is also a hurufiyya; the first verse begins with “alif”, the first letter in the Arabic alphabet; the second with the letter “baa”; the third with the letter “taa”; and so on until we come to the last letter “yaa”, after which a few more verses are added. In this way, all the letters or “huruf” of the Arabic alphabet are used. Hence, it is a “hurufiyya”.

Shaykh ‘Abdur Rahman bin Ahmad az-Zayla’i of Somalia (compiled in Majmu’a Mushtamila, p. 83-85, 116-119, 121-124).

He has three qasaaid, one a “laamiyya” with 31 verses rhyming in the letter “laam”, the second a “raaiyya” with 41 verses rhyming in the letter”raa”, and the third an “alifiyya”, with 28 verses rhyming in the letter “alif”.

Shaykh ‘Abdur Rahman bin Shaykh ‘Abdallah of Somalia in Dalil i’l ‘Ibaad ilaa Sabil i’r Rashad (A Guide For Servants To The Path of Allah, p. 115-117). His qasida is a “raaiyya” with 22 verses in the poetical meter of “raml”.

Shaykh ‘Abdallah bin Mu’allim Yusuf al-Qutbi al-Qadiri, in his compendium entitled Al-Majmu’a al-Mubaraka al-Mushtamila ‘alaa Kutubi Khamsa (A Blessed Compendium of Five Books).

He composed two eulogies on the Shaykh, one of which is a “Nuniyya hurufiyya” in which the verses begin in alphabetical order and rhyme in the letter “nun”. It is in the poetical meter of “al-hajaz”. The second qasida is a “Raaiyya hurufiyya” in which the verses begin in alphabetical order and rhyme in the letter “raa”. It is in the poetical meter of “al-rajaz”.

Shaykh Qasim al-Barawi al-Qadiri.

He composed three qasaaid, a “raaiyya” with 16 verses, another “raaiyya” with 65 verses, and a “nuniyya” with 41 verses. This “nuniyya” contains all the attributive names and titles of praise of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani, Rady Allahu ‘Anhu. These qasaaid are given in Al-Majmu’a al-Mubaraka al-Mushtamila ‘alaa Kutubi Khamsa mentioned above.

Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘Aziz bin ‘Abdul Ghani al-Umawi.

He composed a few verses on Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani which are given in Al-Majmu’a al-Mubaraka al-Mushtamila ‘alaa Kutubi Khamsa mentioned above.

Various anonymous mashaayikh, whose qasaaid, 27 of them, all handwritten, are given in the Diwan (Collected Religious Poems) in Tariqatu’l Qadiriyya, This was gifted to me by Janab ‘Abdul Shakur Hobaya of Mombasa, Kenya,

Rahmatullahi ‘alayhim ajma’in.

B: In Urdu, Farsi, Punjabi and Sindhi

Miya ‘Umar Din has compiled in his book entitled Anwar-e-Qadiriyya (The Lights of the Qadiriyya) the manqabat (poetic praise) of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani in Urdu, Persian and Punjabi that has been composed by the awliya Allah, the mashaayikh and the ‘ulama, all Hanafi, among whom are:

- Hadrat Khawaja Qutb ud Din Bakhtiyar Kaki (passed away 569-633 A.H, 1174-1235 C.E)
- Hadrat Khawaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi (717-791 A.H, 1317-1389 C.E)
- Hadrat Makhdum ‘Alauddin ‘Ali Ahmad Sabir Kalyari (born 592 A.H)
- Hadrat Baha ul Haqq Zakariya Multani (passed away 1276 C.E)
- Hadrat Shah Abu’l Ma’ali
- Hadrat Mawlana ‘Abdur Rahman Jami (passed away 898 A.H, 1492 C.E)
- Shaykh ‘Abdul Haqq Muhaddith Dehlawi (passed away 1052 A.H, 1642 C.E)
- Sultan u’l ‘Arifin Sultan Bahu (1039-1102 A.H; 1631-1691 C.E)
- A’la Hadrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan (1272-1340 A.H, 1856-1921 C.E)
- Hadrat Warith Shah saheb
- Hadrat Miyan Muhammad Bakhsh,

Rahmatullahi ‘alayhim ajma’in.

The other manqabat that Miya ‘Umar Din has included are by Mawlana Hasrat Mawhani, Hadrat Hasan Raza Barelwi, Hadrat Daagh Dehlawi, Hamid Warthi, Waqif Jallendri, and Baydam Warthi.

Of all the mashaayikh who have composed the manqabat on the Shaykh, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Rahmatullahi ‘alayh, occupies pride of place in that he has composed the greatest number of manqabat. In all, he composed 11 manqabat which are given in Hadaaiqi Bakhshish (The Gardens of Gifts). He also composed the “Shajarah Qadiriyya” in verse which gives the spiritual roots of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani, and he rendered a poetic translation of Qasida Gawthiyya in Farsi.

Gulzare Tayyiba (The Pleasant Garden), compiled by Sayyid Muhammad Isma’il Shirazi, contains 17 manqabat in Urdu composed by Sayyid ‘Abdur Rahim Muhammad Isma’il Shirazi and various other scholars.

Sirat-e-Ghawth-e-A’zam (The History of the Greatest Saint) of al-‘Allama ‘Abdur Rahim Khan Qadiri has 4 manqabat in Urdu composed by himself and various other scholars.

Nur Namu (An Exposition on the Light of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) of Abu’l Hasan has one manqabat in Sindhi.

Various anonymous manqabat.

And we must not forget all the qawwalis in honour of the Shaykh in Urdu, Farsi and Punjabi.

C: In Indonesian

By Shaykh Hamzah Fansuri, Rahmatullahi ‘alayh, as quoted by Professor Sayyid Muhammad Naquib al-‘Attas in Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practiced Among the Malays.

D: In Turkish

An anonymous poem on the Tarikat-i Aliyye-i Rifaiyye internet web-site at www.rifai-kadiri.org/Kadiri.html

If there is so much religious poetry in honour of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani, then how much more religious poetry must there be on the family and companions of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and on the beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam himself? Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baarik ‘alayh.

Yaa Hayyu Yaa Hayyu Yaa Qayyum
Yaa Hayyu Yaa Hayyu Yaa Qayyum