# Muhammad al-Baqi bi-l-Lah ق
> *Sayyid! A gnostic of high degree used to say,*
> *'Being a dervish is to correct the imagination.'*
> *In other words, nothing other than the Real*
> *should remain in the heart. In truth, he spoke well.*
> *O Sayyid! Since the veil is nothing but imagination,*
> *the veil must be lifted through imagination.*
> *Night and day you must dwell in imagining Oneness.*
>
> — Shaykh Baqi's son, Khwaja Khurd
Biography
He was the Knower, Annihilated in God (fana billah) and Existing in His Existence (baqa billah), who was lifted to the highest station of Vision. He was a Secret of Allah's Secrets and a Miracle of Allah's Miracles. He combined in his person the two types of knowledge: the Outer Knowledge and the Heavenly Knowledge. God gave him from the two Oceans, and conferred on him Authority in the two worlds of men and Jinn.
Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi ق said, "Muhammad al-Baqi was the One Sitting on the Throne of all Shaikhs, and he was the Deputy of all Masters of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, who reached the end of the Infinite, who achieved the highest states of wilayat (Friendship of God). He was the qutb (Spiritual Pole) who supported every creature on this earth. He unveiled the secrets of Reality. He was the Verifier of the Station of the Reality of Muhammad ﷺ. He was the Pillar of the People of Guidance. He was the Essence of the Knowers and the Guide of the Verifiers (muhaqqiqin)."
Early Life and Education
He was born in 972 H. in the city of Kabul in the land of 'Ajam which was a colony of the Sultanate of India. His father was the judge Abdu-s-Salam. He went to India in the first instance on personal business. There he was attracted to an attraction from God's attraction. He left this worldly life behind and sought spiritual knowledge from the Master of the century. He kept company with masters and saints, until he himself became an ocean of intellect and a saint of spirituality.
Spiritual Training
He traveled continuously until he reached the city of Samarqand. There he connected himself to the Master of his time, Muhammad Khwaja al-Amkanaki ق. He received from him the Way of the Naqshbandi Order. In a very short time he received what most seekers require a lifetime to receive. He was elevated also through the spiritual care of Ubaidullah al-Ahrar ق. His honor became known everywhere.
Authorization and Return to India
His shaikh, Muhammad Khwaja al-Amkanaki, authorized him to take followers and to train them in the conduct of the Order. He ordered him to go back to India. He predicted, "You are going to have a follower who will be like the sun." This would be Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi ق.
Mission in India
He moved back to India and stayed in the city of Delhi-Jahanabad, which he filled with faith and knowledge and secrets and lights. Through him the Naqshbandi Order was spread with great swiftness throughout the Indian Subcontinent and millions of people were connected to him through his deputies. All nations in the Subcontinent were attracted to his knowledge and his Heavenly Power and to the Prophetic Characteristics dressing him.
Miraculous Powers
It became known throughout the Indian Subcontinent that anyone coming to him and looking in his eyes, or sitting in his association doing dhikr, would enter a state of Self-Effacement, through which he could reach a state of Annihilation, in a single meeting. By this miraculous power he attracted millions of people, until this Naqshbandi Order was on the tongue of every person in his time.
Death and Legacy
He died on Wednesday, the 14th of Jumada al-Akhira, 1014 H., in the city of Delhi at the age of 40 years and four months. His grave is on the West side of the city of Delhi.
He passed the secret to his successor, the reviver of the second millennium, al-Imam ar-Rabbani Mujaddid Alf ath-Thani, Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi ق.
The Living Legacy
Muhammad al-Baqi bi-l-Lah ق represents the perfect embodiment of both fanā' (annihilation in God) and baqā' (subsistence through God). His life demonstrates several crucial principles:
Divine Attraction and Transformation
His sudden spiritual awakening in India shows how Allah draws His chosen servants from worldly concerns to spiritual seeking through irresistible divine attraction.
Rapid Spiritual Ascension
His ability to receive in a short time what takes most seekers a lifetime demonstrates the power of complete surrender and the purity of his spiritual receptivity.
The Power of Spiritual Transmission
His miraculous ability to induce states of annihilation through mere eye contact represents the highest form of spiritual teaching and the direct transmission of divine states.
Preparation of the Great Renovator
His role in training Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi, who would become the Mujaddid (Renovator) of the second millennium, shows his crucial place in Islamic spiritual history.
The Method of Corrected Imagination
Through his son's teaching, we understand his method of spiritual purification: transforming imagination from the source of veils into the means of unveiling divine unity.
Through Muhammad al-Baqi bi-l-Lah ق, the Golden Chain established its presence in the Indian subcontinent, where it would flourish and produce some of Islam's greatest spiritual teachers, forever changing the spiritual landscape of South Asia.
