Shah Paran

Hazrat Shah Paran (Template:Lang-bn, Shah Farhan) was a Sufi saint of the Suhrawardiyya and Jalalia order. It is said that he was the son of a sister of Shah Jalal and was born in Hadramaut, Yemen. He was an accomplice of his uncle, Shah Jalal, with whom he arrived in India. In 1303 AD, He took part in the expedition of Sylhet which was led by Shah Jalal. After the conquest of Sylhet he established a khanqah at Khadim Nagar in Dakshingarh Pargana, about 7 km away from Sylhet town, where he started Sufi spiritual practices and activities. He played a significant role in propagating Islam and establishing Muslim rule in the Sylhet region. Certain miraculous activities are attributed to Shah Paran:

Enough will be to prove that issue,

Once Shah Jalal’s nephew,
Called Shah Paran did a terrible thing,
He ate some pigeons when Shah Jalal was on an outing,
When he came to know of this eventually,
He became rather angry.

The dejected Shah Paran,

Was quite upset then,
He collected the feathers of the pigeons being angry,
Threw a puff of air at them and tossed them in the air gently,
By Allah’s grace, myriad pigeons were born right there,
Which flew in the sky cutting the air.

It is unclear how and when he died, but he is buried near his khanqah. For centuries, large numbers of devotees have been visiting his tomb, a practice which continues even today. On the 4th, 5th and 6th day of Rabi-ul-Awal, the Urs of Hazrat Shah Paran takes place. His grave is located in a high hillock and it is carefully preserved at a place which is built with bricks and surrounded by walls. On the northern side of the grave there is an old tree, the branches and branchlets of which are extended above the entire tomb. The name of the tree is 'Ashagachh' (a tree of hopes). From a close observation of the leaves of the tree, it appears that the tree has grown out of a mixture of the fig, mango and some other tree. People eat the seeds of the figs devotionally in the hope of getting rid of diseases. Mangoes are also eaten with utmost respect as Tabaruk. There is an ancient mosque by the side of the tomb. The mosque has been modernised in 1989-91. About 1500 devout Muslims in a body can now say their prayers there.

Adjacent to the main tomb complex of Shah Paran, found in the East of Sylhet, is another tomb visited by worshipers, that of Konya Shah. Legend has it that this follower of the great saints was neither man nor woman. There is a permanent exhibition of the life and times of this saint. Contemporary paintings and pictures featured at the tomb/exhibition depict a person most likely to be a eunuch. Though the original conquerors earned a prominent role in Islamic history, main stream Islam shuns the idea of worshiping saints and eunuchs.

A road bridge over the Surma River, a passenger ferry and a hall of residence at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology have all been named after Shah Paran.

See Also

• Moinuddin Chishti
• Shah Jalal
• Shah Siddiq, one of Shah Jalal's 360 followers and Sufi saint
• Nizamuddin Auliya, his spiritual Friend also gave him two pairs of black pigeons, later named Jalali kobutor
• Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
• Abdul-Qadir Gilani
• Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi
• Abu-Ishaaq Shaami
• Ahmad al-Tijani
• Ahmad Sirhindi
• Ahmed Ullah Maizbhanderi
• Daata Ganj Bukhsh Ali Hujwiri
• Ashraf Jahangir Semnani
• Attar of Nishapur
• Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan
• Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari
• Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
• Bu Ali Shah Qalandar
• Fariduddin Ganjshakar
• Ibn Arabi
• Ibrahim Niass
• Sufism
• List of Sufis
• Islam in Bangladesh
• Sylhet Bangladesh

References