Question

The following is an excerpt from Jahanara’s biography of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, titled Munis al Arwah (The Confidant of Spirits): After praising the one God … this lowly faqira (humble soul) Jahanara ... went from the capital Agra in the company of my great father (Emperor Shah Jahan) towards the pure region of incomparable Ajmer … I was committed to this idea, that every day in every station I would perform two cycles of optional prayer … For several days ... I did not sleep on a leopard skin at night, I did not extend my feet in the direction of the blessed sanctuary of the revered saving master, and I did not turn my back towards him. I passed the days beneath the trees. On Thursday, the fourth of the blessed month of Ramzan, I attained the happiness of pilgrimage to the illuminated and the perfumed tomb … With an hour of daylight remaining, I went to the holy sanctuary and rubbed my pale face with the dust of that threshold. From the doorway to the blessed tomb I went barefoot, kissing the ground. Having entered the dome, I went around the light-filled tomb of my master seven times … Finally, with my own hand I put the finest quality of itar on the perfumed tomb of the revered one, and having taken off the rose scarf that I had on my head, I placed it on the top of the blessed tomb ...

What are the gestures that Jahanara records to indicate her devotion to the Shaikh? How does she suggest that the dargah was a special place?

Answer 1

1. Jahanara performs several deeply respectful and austere gestures to demonstrate her absolute devotion to Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti:
   1. Optional Prayers: She commits to performing two cycles of optional prayer daily at every transit station during her journey.
   2. Self-Abnegation (Asceticism): She refrains from sleeping on a luxury leopard skin at night, choosing humble conditions instead.
   3. Physical Posturing: She strictly ensures she never extends her feet toward the blessed sanctuary or turns her back toward it.
   4. Living Outdoors: She spends her days living simply beneath the trees near the holy site.
   5. Barefoot Reverence: She removes her footwear at the doorway and walks completely barefoot to the blessed tomb.
   6. Prostration: She kisses the ground and rubs her face directly with the dust of the sanctuary’s threshold.
   7. Circumambulation: She walks around (tawaf) the light-filled tomb of her master seven consecutive times.
   8. Sacred Offerings: She personally applies the finest quality of itar (perfume) onto the tomb and leaves her own rose headscarf on top of it as a final offering.
2. Jahanara uses highly elevated, sensory, and spiritual language to frame the dargah as an extraordinary, sacred space:
   1. Sacred Geography: She refers to Ajmer not just as a city, but as a “pure region of incomparable Ajmer” and a “blessed sanctuary.”
   2. Sensory Descriptions: She describes the tomb as being visibly “illuminated,” “light-filled,” and “perfumed,” evoking a heavenly atmosphere.
   3. The Threshold Effect: The dust of the doorway is treated as holy and purifying, capable of bringing supreme happiness when rubbed on her face.
   4. Emotional Elevation: Reaching the site is explicitly described as attaining “the happiness of pilgrimage,” marking it as the ultimate spiritual destination for royalty.