Taking Sultan Ibrahim in Refuge

{Allah Akbar in the guise of Jinda Baba (Al-Khijr) repeatedly exhorted Sultan Ibrahim}

After completing the life of Samman, that living being left the body. The same living being then became King Nausher Khan in the next birth. Thereafter, it became Sultan Ibrahim. There was a city named Balakh in Iraq. He had his capital in that city. The name of the king was Sultan Ibrahim Adham. As a result of the worship that soul had performed with dedication in the life of Samman, he was getting consecutive human births and he continued to become a king in return for the donations he had made. His biggest donation was three ser (approximately 1 kg) flour, which he had made by sacrificing his son. Consequently, he continued to be a wealthy king. In the life of Nausher Khan, Supreme God Kabir had created some circumstances for him to make donations. That also became a reason for him to become an affluent king of Balakh. He owned eighteen lakh horses. There was no shortage of other diamonds and pearls. Every pair of his shoes was studded with diamonds worth two and a half lakhs. It is said that he had 16 thousand women. He used to have fun. He used to commit a lot of violence whenever he went hunting.

One day, some saints came to the house of a devotee near the palace of the king. They delivered sermons. The king listened to the entire sermon while sitting on the roof of his palace at night. He was highly inspired to worship God. He said to his ministers in the morning, “Find a good saint; I want to meet one.”

There was a fraudulent (Baba) saint who was very famous. The king was taken to him. The king started worshipping as guided by him. There was a precious ring in the king’s finger. The fraudulent saint used to pretend that he does not touch money. He seemed to be a great renunciant and a recluse, but he was sly. Sultan was also impressed by him. That saint told his personal attendant, “Go to the goldsmith who made the ring of King Ibrahim, and get a similar ring made of fake gold studded with fake diamonds and pearls from that goldsmith.” The counterfeit ring looked exactly like the original ring.

One day, the king went to the saint. The saint expressed a desire to go boating. Sultan Ibrahim Adham got the boating arranged. After going to the middle of the lake, the saint said, “O King! Your ring is extremely beautiful; can I have a look?” The king took out the ring and gave it to the saint. The saint started looking at it. Surreptitiously, he exchanged the rings. The king said, “If you want, you can keep the ring, or I can get another one made for you.” The hypocrite saint said, “O! For sages and saints, this is dirt, mere dirt.” Saying this, he threw the fake ring in the lake.

The king was convinced that, the saint was indeed a renunciant and a recluse. After a few days, that fraudulent (Baba) saint got exposed. His confidant disciple told the king that your ring has been stolen by the Baba in such a way. The ring is with him. When the king found that ring buried in the ground in the same Baba's hut, he felt very sad and lost faith in the saints. He put that fraud in jail. Then the king called all the saints of his kingdom and asked them, “If you have found God, then introduce me to Him too.” No one had the answer to this. A saint said, “Please send for a glass of milk.” A servant brought a glass of milk and gave it to him. The saint put his finger in the milk and said to the king, “O King! There is no ghee (clarified butter) in your milk.” The king said, “There is a method to get ghee from milk. First, the milk is heated and cooled. Then it is curdled, and curd is formed. Then it is churned, and then heated. Then the ghee comes out.” That saint said, “Sultan ji! Just as there is a method to get ghee from milk; similarly, there is a method for attaining God from the human body. God is attained by that method. Acquire a Guru (spiritual teacher) and worship God.

The king had hatred towards gurus. He was looking at everyone with the same mindset. He put all the Mahatmas (saints) in the prison. Everyone was being forced to operate a hand mill. All sages renounce their homes and families for the sake of God. Because of not getting the right path of worship, the desire for glory automatically arises. One becomes focussed on acquiring more disciples, building a nice, big ashram, but they are good souls of God. As they are striving for the Supreme God, they have grace of God with them. God meets them in disguise to impart true knowledge to them and exhorts them, but blinded by the web of Kaal, they do not believe Him. God is the father of all. Considering them to be His children, He keeps on forgiving them. Nonetheless, He continues to help them.

Divine Act no. 1: - Hearing the call of the distressed devotees in the prison, to rescue them and to release his supreme devotee Samman from the trap of Kaal, Supreme God Kabir mounted a buffalo and reached the court (office) of Sultan Adham.

Seeing God in the guise of a sage, Ibrahim Sultan asked, “Why have you come here?” Supreme God said, “I have come to answer your question.” Ibrahim asked, “Tell me, what is God like? If you have met God, then introduce me to Him too.” Kabir ji said to the buffalo, “O Buffalo! Tell him, what is Allah like? Where is He? Swear to God and tell the truth.” The buffalo spoke like a human being, and said, “O Ibrahim! This is Allahu Akbar sitting on me.” Sultan was astounded as well as impressed to see the buffalo speak. He thought, “This could be some exorcist.” Supreme God disappeared along with the buffalo. Ibrahim fainted. God stood in front of the prison. The soldiers had orders to imprison any sage they found. They imprisoned God.

The soldiers asked him to operate a hand mill. All the other sages were also grinding flour by running a hand mill and were crying. Kabir ji said to the soldiers, “We prisoners will do one job; the soldiers will have to do the other. If we operate the hand mill, the soldiers will have to put grains (wheat, gram, millet) in it; or if we put the grains, you will have to operate the hand mill.”

The soldiers said in rage, “We will put the grains, you may operate the hand mill.” Kabir ji said, “All the saints, stand up.” Saying this, he touched his hand mill with a stick. Instantly, all the (360) hand mills started running automatically. God said, “Soldier brothers! Put the grains; grind as much as you need.” He said to the sages, “Close your eyes.” Everyone closed their eyes. Then God said, “Open your eyes.” When they opened their eyes, everyone was standing outside the prison in the forest, away from the city of Balakh. Kabir ji said, “Leave the kingdom of this king and go somewhere far away.” All the devotees after making obeisances to Supreme God and thanking him, ran away. They went far away. The king learned that an ascetic with spiritual powers had come. He got all the prisoners liberated. They were not visible when they all left. He touched a hand mill with a stick and all the (360) hand mills started running. The king went to the prison. He was amazed to see the moving hand mills. Then the hand mills stopped moving. The king was lost in thoughts.

Divine Act no. 2 :- After a few days, God Kabir disguised as a camel-herding villager with a long stick in his hand, and appeared on the terrace of the king's residence. It was night-time. The king was sleeping. God began hitting the stick vigorously on top of the roof. Sultan Ibrahim woke up from sleep and scolded the servants, “Who is making this noise? Catch him and bring him here.” The servants went upstairs. They captured a camel grazer from the roof and brought him before Sultan. The king asked, “Who are you? What are you doing on the roof of my palace?”

God said, “I am a cameleer (caravan). I have lost a camel. I am looking for it on the roof.” Sultan Adham said, “O innocent man! How can a camel climb on top of the roof? This would have never happened. Search for the camel somewhere in the forest.”

God Kabir said, “O Ibrahim! Just as a camel is not present on the roof, nor is it ever found on the roof, a camel should be searched for in the forest; similarly, God is not found while sitting on the throne and enjoying luxuries; He is found among saints.” Saying this, God Kabir disappeared. Sultan Adham fell unconscious on the ground. The ministers and queens called an exorcist. He tied an amulet on the right arm of the king and said, “There is a shadow of ghosts on him; he will be fine.” The king was not finding interest in the affairs of the kingdom. He started remaining sad.

The king had again imprisoned some saints. God went to the prison again. He got them also out of the prison in the same way. This time, he told all the prisoners, “You may all stand up and close your eyes. Meditate on Allah for some time. We will operate the hand mills after that. The hand mills will run smoothly.” All the prisoners stood up and started contemplating Allah with their eyes closed. God touched a stick to a hand mill. All the hand mills started running.

God Kabir Ji said, “Open your eyes.” When everyone opened their eyes, they found themselves standing in a forest outside the prison, away from the city of Balakh. God said, “Do not come again within the boundaries of this Sultan's kingdom.” After that, the king had stopped imprisoning sages and saints, but due to fear, no sage-mahatma used to come to his kingdom. (Supreme God Kabir also wanted the same - ‘These fake gurus should not come here. They may mislead the king and drive him away from me.’ So, they had to be kept away in this manner.) After some time, the king became normal and again got engrossed in the luxurious lifestyle. Divine Act no. 3 :- God Kabir, as per His qualities, came again to perform a divine act. Disguised as a traveller, with a bundle of clothes tucked under his arm, dressed in a rural costume, God came to Sultan's residence in the evening. Sultan was sitting on a chair in the courtyard at the entrance of the house. The king asked, “Why have you come here?” God Kabir said, “I am a traveller. I have to stay at your inn for the night. Tell me the fare for one night; how much will you charge?”

Sultan Ibrahim Adham laughed and said, “O innocent traveller, this is not an inn. This is my palace. I am the king of the city.” Bandi Chhod God, the ocean of mercy, asked, “Who used to live in this palace before you?” Sultan Ibrahim Adham replied, “My father-grandfather etc used to live here.”

God’s Question: - “Where are they? I want to see them.” Sultan’s answer: - “They have died.” God asked, “For how many days, will you stay in this palace?” Instead of replying, Sultan contemplated and said, “I also have to die.” God said, “O innocent creature! If this is not an inn, then what is it?”

Tere baap-daada pad peedhee | ve basey isee saraay mein geedhi ||
Aise hi too chal jaai | taatein Ham mahal saraay bataai ||
Ab too takht baithkar bhooli | tera man chadhney ko sooli ||

Saying this, God disappeared. Sultani fainted. He regained consciousness after a long time. Another Muslim cleric was sent for. Tying an amulet on the king’s left arm, he performed the rite of exorcism and said, “Nothing will happen now. It has gone.”

Divine Act no. 4 :- After a few days, the king returned to normality again and started having fun. King Ibrahim used to sleep in his Naulakha (in which nine lakh fruit-bearing trees of different types were planted, it was called Naulakha Bagh/garden) Garden in the daytime. The maids used to make his bed. They used to place bouquets of flowers around it. The dress of the maids was different from that of the queens. All the maids wore the same uniform.

Kabir ji, the Lord of the poor, had to take many measures to release the soul of his beloved devotee Samman from the Kaal’s trap. One day, God Kabir disguised himself as a maid. (He assumed a female form.) He made the king's bed in the garden. He arranged the bouquets of flowers in a very beautiful way and himself lay down on the bed. When King Ibrahim came, he saw, “A maid (khavaasi) is sleeping on my bed. She is not afraid of me in the slightest.” Sultan immediately picked up a whip and lashed God lying there, three times on his waist. Three marks were formed on His waist; the skin came off. Supreme God disguised as a maid got down from the bed and once pretended to cry and then started laughing out loud. Ibrahim was astonished to see the maid laughing even after being hurt to such an extent. He was thinking that the maid should have either fainted or died. The king held the hand of God disguised as maid and asked, “Maid! Why are you laughing?”

God said, “I have lain, rested on this bed for one ghadi (24 minutes). I have received three whips as a punishment for one ghadi’s (24 minutes) rest. Even the skin of my body has come off. I am laughing because what will happen to the one who sleeps day and night on this dirty bed? I feel sorry for you, innocent creature!”

Main ek ghadi sej par soee | taatey mera yeh haal hoee||
Jo sovae divas aur raata | unka kya haal vidhaata ||
Gaib bhaye khvaasa | Sultaani bhaye udaasa ||
Yeh kaun chhalaava bhaai | yaaka bhed samajh na aai ||

Seeing this scene, Sultan became unconscious. When he woke up, he thought, “What is happening? I am unable to understand.”

Divine Act no. 5: - After some time, the ministers and the queens said, “Take the king on a hunting trip. Stay in the forest for a few days. His worries will lessen.” That is what was done. No animal was found till noon on the first day itself. The king did not like this at all. He said, “Herds of deer walk in the forest. Not even a single deer has come today.” Suddenly, a deer appeared. The king said, “This deer should not escape. Whoever it passes by uncaught, will not be spared.” As they watched, the deer passed under the king's horse and ran towards the forest. Embarrassed, the king rode the horse swiftly behind the deer. After going far away, the deer hid in the forest. The king and the horse were very thirsty. They were about to die. He prayed to Allah for water to save their lives. He made his way back to his camp. The camp was an hour away. It was difficult to survive till then.

After going some distance, he looked around and saw a Jinda Fakir sitting there. Nearby was a small body of fresh water. It was surrounded by fructiferous trees bearing sweet fruits. The king saw a ray of life. He drank the water, ate some fruits, gave water to the horse and tied it to a tree. When he looked at Jinda Baba, he saw that he had three beautiful dogs on leash with him. A dog tie out chain (an iron chain) was lying next to them. Sultan greeted the fakir by saying ‘Salaam Walekam’. The fakir also responded by saying ‘Walekam Salaam’. The king said, “O Fakir! What will you do with the three dogs? Give me two of these.” The fakir said, “I cannot give these dogs to anyone. I have to teach them a lesson. These three have been the kings of Balakh city. I used to admonish them, “You should remember Allah. You will not stay in this world forever. You will get the life of a dog after dying. Now you are eating Naan Pulao, Cashew Nuts, Raisins, Munakka raisins, rice pudding, halwa, fruits etc. This is the result of the meritorious deeds and worship performed in your previous births. If you do not worship in this human life, you will suffer in the lives of animals like dog etc. You will not get this good food to eat. You will eat leftover pieces. You will eat faeces; you will drink dirty water from the drain.” When they were kings, they failed to heed my words. They used to think, “This fakir is a fool. Who will manage the kingdom? What will happen to the queens?” Now these three have become dogs. Look! I have kept rice pudding and halwa, containing cashews, almonds and raisins, in front of them. I do not let them eat it. I just show it to them. When they try to eat, I beat them.” Saying this, God picked up the iron chain which was lying empty and started beating the dogs with it. The dogs started screaming. God said, “Now eat the halwa; let me feed you! I will feed you leftover and stale food. O horse rider! Shall I tell you what this idle iron chain is for? The king of the city of Balakh is Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham. He too, blinded by the glare of the world and the kingdom, has forgotten Allah. Now he does not realise that he will also become a dog after death. I have admonished him several times, “Worship God; you will not stay in this palace-like inn forever”, but he has no fear of God. He, by himself becoming God, is punishing innocent fakirs. I am sitting here far away. Hence, I am saved. That king will die. Without worshipping God, he will become a dog. I will bring him and tie him with this chain.”

Hearing these words from the mouth of the Jinda fakir, seeing the plight of his ancestors in the form of dogs, Ibrahim started trembling and said, O fakir! I am the king of the city of Balakh. Forgive me.” Saying this, he fell at the feet of the fakir. After a while, when he raised his head, he saw that there was neither the Jinda Baba, nor the reservoir, nor the garden, nor the dogs. Sultani could not even consider it a dream because the horse's hooves were still wet. He had plucked some fruits, they were also kept there. It did not take Sultan long to understand. He mounted the horse and returned to the camp. He could not speak. He indicated with his hand to pack up and return to the city. Within a few minutes, the convoy left for the city of Balakh.

Divine Act no. 6: - Sitting in a room in the house, Sultan started crying. The queens and ministers tried to counsel him that it is normal for these things to happen. The chief queens were saying, “Such things happen with women; you are a man. Have courage. You are the guardian of the people.”

Just then, a dog came. He had a wound on his head. It was infested with worms. The dog said, “O Sultan Ibrahim! I was also a king. All the creatures that I killed in hunting and the soldiers that I killed in a battle with a king are taking their revenge today. They have become worms in my head and are biting me. I am not capable of doing anything. You will face the same plight. Look at your future. God is wandering behind you. You are destroying your life in the attachment of family and kingdom.” (This divine act was also performed by God Kabir himself.) This was the final blow to get Ibrahim out of the swamp.

In the same night, Sultan applied black ink on his face, wrapped a shawl in place of an alfi (a sleeveless piece of dress worn by fakirs), took a pillow, a metal pot, and a thin mattress i.e., a bedding and climbed down a (kamand) rope ladder from the rear of the house and set off. (Kamand = a thick rope with knots at every two feet, that was used to climb down from the roof of a building at the time of danger.)

Divine Act no. 7: - On the way, a (maalin) female gardener was selling Ber (jujube) outside a garden. Sultan was hungry. He had walked all night. When he asked the maalin the price of the Ber, the maalin told that one ser (kg) Ber was of one anna (currency unit). (One rupee comprised 16 annas. One ser means one kilogram) The king did not have an anna. The cost of the pair of shoes he was wearing was Rs 2.5 lakh in those days. They were studded with diamonds and emeralds.

The king said, “I do not have an anna or a rupee. I have these shoes. Their cost is 2.5 lakh rupees. Take both of them. I am hungry; weigh one ser (kg) Ber.” When after weighing 1 ser Ber, the maalin was about to put them in Ibrahim's stretched out shawl, one Ber fell. The maalin also extended her hand to pick that Ber and Ibrahim also tried to snatch that Ber from the maalin's hand. Both started claiming the Ber.

At that very moment, God Kabir appeared and said, “O Simpleton! She is a fool who does not have this much discretion that she is quarrelling for one Ber with someone who relinquished shoes worth two and a half lakh rupees. O Fool! You are relinquishing shoes worth two and a half lakh rupees and are quarrelling over a Ber only worth an anna. What kind of renunciation of yours is this? Act prudently.” Saying this, God slapped Sultan Adham on the face and disappeared.

The journey of life can also be like this: - When Sultan went ahead, he saw a poor man sleeping on the ground with his head on a clod. Instantly, he threw the pillow and the bedding. He went further and saw that a person was drinking water from the river with his hands. He threw the metal pot as well.

Admonishing a person trapped in the maze of Kaal: - It started raining on the way. Cold air started blowing. Ibrahim saw a hut that belonged to a farmer, who had two bighas of unirrigated land, an old cow that had procreated four-five times and a one-eyed wife. To save himself from the cold caused by the cold wind, Ibrahim Adham Sultan lay down behind that hut. In the night, both husband and wife were talking, “It has rained a lot. We will get sufficient fodder for the cow. There will be a good harvest for our food too. We will have so much comfort which even the king of Balakh Bukhara does not have.”

After overhearing this entire conversation, Sultan Ibrahim Adham, thinking that those two had taken leave of their senses, stayed there till sunrise with the aim of making them aware of future sorrows. After waking up in the morning, he stood at the door of their hut and greeted them. Both husband and wife came out of the hut. Ibrahim started preaching to them about worshipping God and rejecting Maya (wealth). He said, “You have one cow, a woman and two bighas of land. You are clinging to this alone. You are considering it to be a more luxurious lifestyle than that of the emperor of Balakh. This is a fair that will only last for a few days. Let me get you initiation from Guru ji; your life will be blessed. I am Sultan Ibrahim Adham of Balakh city. I have renounced that kingdom for the attainment of God.”

They said, “We do not think that you are the king of Balakh city. If so, then there is no fool like you on this earth. We do not need your teachings.” Sultan said that :-

Garib, raandi (wife) dhaandi (cow) na tajaen, ye nar kahiye kaag |
Balakh Bukhaara tyaag diya, thi koee pichhli laag ||

After this, Ibrahim Adham was no longer the sultan (king) of the earth, but he became the sultan (king) of devotional worship. He became the king of devotees. Therefore, he became famous by the name of Sultan or Sultani as he was endearingly called. In the next story, he will be called and written only by the name of Sultan. For example, Dharmdas ji was being called Dhani Dharmdas. He was rich in devotional worship. There was no dearth of worldly wealth as well. God met Sultan and gave him the first mantra, and said, “Later, I will give you Satnaam, then Saar Shabd.”

There is evidence in Kabir Sagar, Chapter "Sultan Bodh" on Page 62 :-

Pratham paan pravaana leyi | peechhe saar shabd toee deyi ||
Tab Satguru ne alakh lakhaaya | kari parteet param pad paaya ||
Sahaj chauka kar deenha paana (naam/mantra) | kaal ka bandhan tod bagaana ||

Please consider :- At that time, Ibrahim had neither money nor other facilities to do Aarti Chauka. This is the actual method of initiation of Kabir ji. There is no provision for Aarti Chauka, goods worth lakhs or thousands in it, coconut etc. If one wants to conduct a Paath later, then one can get it done; otherwise, the initiation can be given only with chanted water and sweet substance (crystallised rock sugar, sugar, jaggery, powdered sugar, unrefined sugar). Paan (liquid) is not given while granting Satya Naam and Saar Shabd. Only the initiation-mantras are given and explained. God Kabir had met Sant Garibdas ji (Village-Chhudani, District-Jhajjar, State-Haryana). He had granted divine vision to him. Based on that, Sant Garibdas ji has stated that: -

Garib, Ham Sultaani Nanak taarey, Dadu koon updesh diya |
Jaati julaaha bhed na paaya, Kaashi maahen Kabir hua ||
Garib, anant koti brahmaand ka, ek rati nahin bhaar |
Satguru Purush Kabir hain, kul ke sirjanhaar ||