10th Jumada al-Thani: Urs of Khwaja Mohammad Baba as-Samasi, 15th Grandshaykh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

(Select your preferred language by clicking the top right of this page.)

The 10th of Jumada al-Thani marks the blessed Urs of Khwaja Mohammad Baba as-Samasiق, the 15th Grandshaykh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. His inner light prepared the way for Khwaja Sayyid Amir Kulalق and Muhammad Baha’uddin Shah Naqshbandق, whose guidance would illuminate hearts for centuries.

Khwaja Baba as-Samasiق was born in the village of Sammas near Ramitan, on the outskirts of Bukhara in Uzbekistan. From childhood he displayed an extraordinary thirst for sacred knowledge. He mastered the Qur’an, the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, and the sciences of jurisprudence.

From there he advanced into speculative theology, logic, philosophy, and history, until scholars called him a walking treasury of both outward and inward knowledge.

Yet the true purity of his heart was cultivated under the guidance of Khwaja Ali ar-Ramitaniق, the Grandshaykh of his time. It was under Khwaja Ali Ramitaniق that he trained continuously in mujahadah (striving against the ego), until his heart became polished and ready to receive heavenly inspirations.

Baba as-Samasiق would perform daily seclusions and discipline his thoughts so completely that his Shaykh was permitted to transmit unseen knowledge directly into his heart.

Before returning to his Lord ﷻ, Khwaja Ali Ramitaniق appointed him as his successor and instructed all disciples to follow him, affirming that Allah Almighty had opened for him stations of sainthood that would continue to shine long after his time.

Khwaja Baba as-Samasiق lived in outward simplicity while carrying oceans within. He kept a small orchard in Sammas, and would prune its branches with his own hands. 

Often, while clipping a twig, a powerful state of unveiling would come upon him and the knife would slip from his fingers. Those present understood that his heart was with his Lord ﷻ at every breath, and even the smallest movement carried the fragrance of Divine nearness.

Khwaja Amir Kulalق would sometimes catch the knife as it slipped from his Shaykh’s hand, and Baba as-Samasiق would say to him, “You must learn to see with the eye of the heart. When the state descends I disappear from myself. You must remain present.”

Through this silent teaching Amir Kulalق was moulded for the immense trust that awaited him.

Baba as-Samasiق recognised the purity of Amir Kulalق’s heart from early on. It is narrated that Baba as-Samasiق would single him out in gatherings even before designating him formally as his khalifa.

When others asked why he was showing such attention, he replied that Amir Kulalق’s heart had already been opened for the trusts of the Golden Chain and that he would carry the secret after him.

He placed Amir Kulalق under a special discipline, unique among his students, that consisted of long periods of muraqabah in his presence, strict daily seclusions, and a rule that no intrusive thought should be allowed to rest in the heart for more than a single breath.

If a thought lingered, Amir Kulalق had to restart his dhikr.

Baba as-Samasiق also trained him to temper his physical strength and soften his approach, telling him that the one who was coming would require a teacher whose heart was soft as silk.

In time that softness, joined with strength, became the very mould through which Imamul Tariqah, Shah Naqshbandق, would be raised.

It was Baba as-Samasiق who first revealed the coming of Shah Naqshbandق. Whenever he passed the village known as Qasr al-Arifin, he would say that he smelled the scent of a great knower whose light would one day define the entire order. 

One day the scent came with such intensity that he stopped and said the knower had been born.

Three days later, the grandfather of a newborn child brought the baby to Baba as-Samasiق. He looked upon the infant and said, “This is my grandson. We accepted him as such, a long time ago. He will be a guide for all humanity. His light will reach every home in Central Asia. Allah’s Name will be engraved upon his heart and after him this entire Tariqah will be known.”

That blessed child was Shah Naqshbandق. Baba as-Samasiق accepted him spiritually and blessed him with the first taste of the Naqshbandi Light even in infancy.

He informed Amir Kulalق that young Shah Naqshbandق carried a great trust and that, in time, Amir Kulalق must complete his training with tenderness and affection, and never refuse him anything that would help him reach his destined station.

Amir Kulalق replied that if he failed in this trust even by the weight of a mustard seed, he would consider himself among the heedless. From that moment he prepared himself to raise Shah Naqshbandق as his Shaykh had instructed him to.

As Shah Naqshbandق reached youth, he came to Samas and received his first training under Baba as-Samasiق, learning presence, service, and the foundations of the Way directly from him.

When Baba as-Samasiق returned to his Lord ﷻ, Amir Kulalق fulfilled his Shaykh’s command exactly and faithfully, continuing and completing the training that he had begun, until the secret of the Golden Chain was fully established within Shah Naqshbandق.

Scholars and seekers travelled from near and far to sit with Baba as-Samasiق, for his gatherings were gardens of knowledge. Those who approached him with sincerity found their hearts transformed, for he held authority in both outward law and inner unveiling. Blessings were said to flow across the region through his presence alone.

He taught that the spiritual path begins with purity. The heart must be clean, the inner self sincere and hidden from pride, the chest filled with hope and contentment, the spirit clothed in reverence and modesty, and the body nourished only with lawful provision. 

Purity of the body comes through abandoning desire, purity of the hands through honest earning, purity from sins through sincere regret, purity of the tongue through constant remembrance and seeking forgiveness, and purity from heedlessness through awareness of the Hereafter.

He instructed seekers to follow the guidance of their Shaykh with loyalty, for the instruction of a saint is more healing than the pages of a book. He warned them never to raise their voices in the presence of a saint, never to busy themselves with unnecessary worship while sitting before him, and not to judge others by outward simplicity.

He reminded his students to keep their hearts connected only to their own Shaykh and never to look elsewhere, for the seeker’s safety lies in loyalty.

Among the most extraordinary events of his life was the ascension he experienced through the spiritual power of his Shaykh. He narrated that one day, when he approached Khwaja Ali Ramitaniق, his Shaykh told him, “O my son, I am seeing in your heart the desire for an Ascension.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Baba as-Samasiق entered a spiritual vision in which he found himself walking day and night until he reached Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Inside the mosque, he met a man in green who welcomed him and told him they had been waiting for him. He informed him that it was the 27th night of Rajab, the night of the Isra’ and Mi’raj of the Prophet ﷺ.

That Green Man was Al-Khidr (AS).

As Baba as-Samasiق stepped further into the mosque, he found his Shaykh waiting, ready to lead him in prayer. When the prayer was complete, his Shaykh said, “I have been ordered by the Prophet ﷺ to accompany you to the Sidrat al-Muntaha.”

Khidr (AS) then brought forth two heavenly creatures. They mounted them and were lifted through the realms. With every ascent, oceans of knowledge were unveiled in his heart.

At last they reached the Reality of the Prophet ﷺ, where both he and his Shaykh disappeared into the brilliance of that Presence. He witnessed that nothing exists in creation except the Prophet ﷺ, and beyond him only Allah ﷻ.

He then heard the voice of the Prophet ﷺ speaking to him with tenderness, telling him that the path he was on was among the Most Distinguished, and that those chosen as stars and beacons for humanity would be carried through it.

The Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Return, and I am supporting you with all my Power, as Allah Almighty is supporting me with His Power. And keep in the service of your Shaykh.”

As the voice faded, he found himself once again sitting before Khwaja Ali Ramitaniق.

This vision became a foundation of his spiritual authority. He was a saint who had journeyed through the unseen and returned carrying oceans of knowledge that can only be known through direct witnessing.

Khwaja Baba as-Samasiق spent his life raising generations of seekers and teaching the Sultan of Dhikr. Through him the secret of the Golden Chain flowed until it reached the heart of the one who would bear the Tariqah’s name.

In his final days he remained gentle, humble and radiant. The trust that he carried flowed to Amir Kulalق, and from Amir Kulalق to Shah Naqshbandق, in whom the secret reached its perfection. His disciples carried his fragrance across Central Asia, guiding hearts as he once guided them and continuing the work he began.

Khwaja Baba as-Samasiق returned to his Lord ﷻ in the year 1354 in Samas, near present day Alamdor. To this day, his resting place remains a lantern of blessings for all who remember him.

May Allah ﷻ sanctify his noble soul, bless his secret, and allow his light to reach the hearts of all who seek sincerity and truth.

May the love of the Awliya grow in us, and may we remain steadfast upon this Way until we are reunited with the Masters of the Golden Chain.

Al-Fatiha.

To receive daily Sultan Sohbahs and reminders of important dates delivered to your inbox, do subscribe to our website below.

---