Hazrat Sayed NurUddin Shah Ni’amatullah-E-Wali ,1330-143 also spelled as Ne’matollah, Ni’matallah and Ni’mat Allah, was an Islamic scholar and a sufi poet from the 14th and 15th centuries. Descended from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, Ni’amatullah was the Qutb of a sufi order after his master Sheikh Abd-allah Yafae. Today there is a Sufi order Nimatullahi that considers him its founder.
Hazrat Sufi Ni’amatullah was born in Aleppo, Syria. He travelled widely through the Muslim world, learning the philosophies of many masters, but not at first finding a personal teacher he could dedicate himself to. During this time, Ni’amatullah also studied the writings of the great Sufi philosopher and mystic Ibn Arabi.
Hazrat Shah Ni’amatullah Wali was one of the important Masters of Sufism in the history of mysticism. He was in fact the person who lit the lamp of “gnosis” in a large part of the Muslim Countries, especially in Turk Stan, Hindustan, and Iran.
The parents and the descendents of Sufi Shah Ni’amatullah were all mystical and the intellectual people. His mother was Iranian from the region of Fars and his father was Arab, from Syria. At first, his family was in Halab in Syria, and they went to Mecca for the pilgrimage, then moved to Iran and stayed in Shiraz.
Hazrat Sufi Shah Ni’amatullah Wali was the 19th descendant of the Prophet of Islam and he is generally called “Sayed”. He was born in the month of Rajab of 730 or 731, but – because of the divergence of the historian’s opinions – we do not know exactly where: in “Syria” or in “Shiraz”.
According to the historians, he was very clever at a young age, and started learning the Koran and its commentary in multiple languages such as Urdu, Persian, and Arab. He had got the famous teachers like “Rokn edin Shirazi”, “Shamsedin Maqi”, “Seyed Jalal Kharazmi”, “Qazi Azod edin Idji”, … He studied the very important books about Sufism like “Mersad ol Ebad” of “Najmedin Razi” and “Esharat et Tanbihat” of “Avicenna”, and “Fosous ol Hekam” of “Mohyedin Arabi”. He knew by heart “Fosous ol Hekam”, and he read the multiple interpretations and commentary about it.
Ni’amatullah met Abdollah Yafe’i in Mecca and became his disciple. He studied intensely with his teacher for seven years until, spiritually transformed, he was sent out for a second round of travels, this time as a realized teacher.
He finished by finding a Master in a mosque in Mecca, Arabia. “Sheikh Abdollah Yafei” was an important Sufi, author of the books such as “Rozat ol Ryahin”, “Dorro Nazim”, “Nashr ol Mahasen”, “Ershad”; etc, an important religious person; and from Shah’s point of view, the King of the Walis of his time. Shah became his disciple and began practicing the spiritual exercises for seven years, leaded by his master.
After having finished his studies, he started traveling around the World and frequenting the Sufi Masters.
Ni’amatullah temporarily resided near Samarkand, along the great Central Asian Silk Road. It was here that he met the conqueror Tamerlane, but to avoid conflict with the worldly ruler, he soon left and eventually settled in the Persian region of Kerman. His shrine is in nearby Mahan.
Sheikh Abdullah Yafei had a master, Sheikh Saleh Barbary from Marrakesh, whose master was Sheikh Kamaledin Kufi, whose master was Sheikh Aboul Fat He Saidi, whose master was Sheikh Abu Madyan Magrebi, whose master was Sheikh Abu Masoud Andalusia, whose master was Sheikh Aboul Barakat Baghdadi, whose master was Sheikh Aboul Fazl Baghdadi, whose master was Sheikh Ahmad Ghazali, whose master was Sheikh Aboubakr Nassaj Tusi, whose master was Sheikh Abol Ghasem Khorasani Tusi, whose master was Sheikh Abu Osman Magrebi, whose master was Sheikh Abu Ali Kateb Baghdadi, whose master was Sheikh Abu Ali Roudbari, whose master was Sheikh Obeid Baghdadi, whose master was Sheikh Serri Sagati, whose master was Sheikh Marouf Karkhi, whose master was Sheikh Davoud Taei, whose master was Sheikh Habib Ajami, whose master was Hassan Basri, and he was a disciple of Hazrat Ali son of Abu Taleb, the cousin and successor of Prophet of Islam.
The Sufi order coming from Sheikh Marouf Karkhi was called “Maroufieh” before “Shah Nematollah” ,and after him, is named “Nematollahi”.
Sheikh Marouf Karkhi was also a disciple of eight Imam of Shiite; and so the “Nematollahi order of Sufism” connects to Imam Ali by two parallel directions
Shah spent seven years in Mecca for realizing the spiritual experiences. In this city, Shah encountered “Ghotb edin Razi”. After having finished his exercises Shah went from Mecca to Egypt to meet “Seyed Hossein Akhlati”. He took the direction of Azerbaijan in Iran, where he met “Seyed Ghasem Anvar”; then he went to Turk Stan and spend 120 lonely days in the mountain of Samargand and practicing certain spiritual exercises. He also spent the other Quarantines in the mountain Alvand in Hamedan and Alborz in Damavand.
Then Shah went to Karbala and from there he took the way of Khorasan, and visited Samargand and Hirat.
In Samargand Shah married when he was 65 years old, and in the same city he encountered “Timor Lang”.
“Borhan din Khalil ollah” the son and the successor of Shah was born in 775.
He went with his family from Samargand to Hirat, to Meshed, and finally to Yazd; in this city he spent 5 years and built a Khanegah and received the important personages of Sufism like “Mowlana Sharafodin Ali Yazdi”, “Khajeh Sainedin Ali Tarkeh Esfahni” and “Sheikh Shamsodin Hafiz”, famous poet of Shiraz.
Hafez stayed near Shah for 2 years and composed very beautiful poems about Shah and his Khanegah.
Shah went to KohBanan in Mahan of Kerman and built a huge Sufi center. He traveled to Hind and to Shiraz. Shah accepted the demand of King Ahmad in Dakan, and sent his family to stay in Hind.
The death of Shah Nematollah happened in the month of Rajab of 832 when he was 104 years old. His tomb is in Mahan,Iran.
The Sufi Order “Nematollahi” who attributes himself to Shah Nematollah has always been the largest and the most popular Sufi Order in the World.
Order came to Iran about the 12th century of Hegira, to learn again about this Order in this Country.
The famous Sufi Masters who managed this order were from all over the world; from Asia, Africa and Europe, and this plurality gives a universal color to this order.
The Sufi Masters of this order learned the way of spirituality of the human being, and they traveled around the world for inviting all people to peace and tolerance. For the Sheikhs and the Masters of this order every man and woman has the capacity to become the vicar of God on earth. The differences of the skin’s color, geographical origin, culture, language, etc, are not the important factors for substantial evolution.
Nowadays the Spiritual Center of the Nematollahi order is in a little town – named Gonabad – in Korasan; and the principle center of mysticism’s activity is in Tehran. This center is composed of 3 parts :
a)- a grand place for the mystical ceremony, named “Hosseinieh”.
b)- the library “saleh”,
c)- medical center (darmangah Saleh).
The adepts of this order gather twice a week (Thursday and Sunday after-noon) for one or two hours and participate in a spiritual ceremony, so they have two gatherings each week.
The actual successor of Shah Seyed Nour Din Nematollah Wali –39th Grand Master of Nematollahi order- is “Dr Nour Ali Tabandeh Majzoub Ali Shah”. He lives in Tehran.
Hazrat Seyed Nourod-din Shah Nematollah Wali is considered the greatest Sufi master and one of the most elequent Iranian poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D. In Sufism he belonged to the Ma’rufi Order and was a disciple of Sheikh Abdullah Yafei, who died in Mecca in 768 A.H. (1362 A.D.).
The Ma’rufi Order is traced back through Sheikh Ma’ruf Karkhi to Imam Reza, the eighth Shi’ite Imam, and from the latter to Imam Ali (peace be with him). The Sufi instructions and teachings of Shah Nematollah Wali were wellcomed at a time when some people called themselves Sufis whithout knowing the truth about Sufism. Therefore, with the advent of Shah Nematollah Wali the Ma’rufi Order came to be widely recognized and accepted in Iran and many Islamic countries of those days, and many became his disciples. That is why thereafter the Ma’rufi Order became known as “Nematollahi.”
In addition to having reached the highest levels on the Sufi path, Shah Nematollah Wali is among the greatest scholars and poets of Iran. From the point of view of the quantity of his published writhings,he is rare among the masters of Sufism. The number of his articles and papers, most of which are on Sufism, has been estimated to be about five hundred. His collection of poetry consists of 12,000 verses in which mystic concepts have been written in a symbolic form.
By the time Ni’amatullah died, his fame had spread throughout Persia and India, and it is said he initiated hundreds of thousands of followers in the path now known by his name.
Ni’amatullah’s son Shah Khalilullah was the next qutb (master) of the Nimatullahi order, on the invitation of sultan Ahmed Shah Al Wali Bahamani Of Bidar Sultanate deccan to Shah Nimatullah Wali, he replied “I am 104 yrs old, I can not come, I am sending my son Shah Khalilullah ” to deccan (around 1430 A.D). The silsilah moved to Ashtoor outside Bidar in the Deccan. Before Shah his brother Shah Nasrullah came to bidar, later he was married to Sultan’s daughter, the Place where Sultan received Shah is now Khalilabad outside Bidar. 30 km from Akeli now called Zahirabad. -Books Tariq e ferishta and burhan e mathir-State library, hyderabad (A.P) India. As the Sultan Saw shah in his dream he wanted the saint to come to Bidar, this dream according to History books was realised when receiving shah he told his counsels “if this is the same person I saw in my dream he should be carrying an octagen Shaped head cap, and hence he was satisfied when Shah Khalilullah Presented him with the cap. Even the Tomb of Shah is octagnal.”
Shah Khalilullah’s tomb is outside bidar fort called “chokundi”,now under Archeological survey of India, even he is succeeded by 8 other qotbs(Pillars, masters) and 3 qotbs namely Shah Mir Mahmud Deccani, Shams al Din Deccani&Reza Ali Shah Deccani, in Hyderabad deccan,Henceforth,there are tomb’s of 12 qotbs of nimatullahi[1] order in hind (India).
Shah N’imatullah Wali has a left a Persian Language Diwan (poetry).This contained predictions about the events which would occur on-wards in the world . his father name was haroon rasheed who lived in bhara kahu, Diwan of Hazrat Shah Ni’matullah Wali