Khwaja Ghulam Fareed

Khwaja Ghulam Fareed (1847-1901) was a later order Chishti Nizami Saint and is a Saraiki poet-metaphysician par excellence. He was the grand son of
famous disciple of Qibla-e-Alam Hazrat Khwaja Nur Mohammed Maharvi r.a , Hazrat Qazi Aqil Mohammed of Kot Mithan Sharif. He has revived the
traditional metaphysics in the modern world by embracing the universal elements of pure metaphysics. His learning and scholarship coupled with his
spiritual experiences has added a glorious chapter on World Spirituality. He is multilingual and has left a rich repository of prose and poetry.
Diwan-e-Fareedi is the fountainhead of his whole metaphysical thought and its realization. It speaks of the religion of the heart that essentially takes one to
the heart of religion. Diwan-e-Fareedi is essentially symbolic. It gives us a symbolic understanding of the ultimate nature of things couched in a beautiful
poetic imagery.
The essential metaphysical idea of the Diwan is Oneness of Being ( wahadat ul Wujud) and its metaphysical realization. The "Hidden Treasure" manifestes
itself by virtue of Ishq so that its possibilities may transform themselves into attributes. The Nameless Reality assumes different Names or Attributes by dint
of different mediums. Man is the most polished mirror, a medium in which the Reality witness its own Self. Rasool Allah is the most perfect and polished
mirror in this context. The principle, by virtue of which the undifferentiated Reality became differentiated, is called Ahmad. Seen from the human perspective,
the Reality is Transcendent and Immanent , Absolute and Infinite or Ahad and Wahid. It is essentially metaphysical Whole or Universal Possibility. The
cosmos is including man has no self-subsistent reality. It is the theophany of the Reality. All things are plunged in ontological nothingness. Being belongs to
the Reality or God alone. There is no reality except the Reality and Hazrat Mohammed is the manifestation of the Reality. Nature thus has no ontological
being of its own. It is the manifestation of the Reality. Rather , the Reality is Manifestation itself. It is the principle of unity in diversity, which is rampant
every where. It is by existentially reflecting on these symbols that one encounters Reality. The Language of Nature or the Cosmic Book is so simple that we
ordinarily tend to miss it.
The Diwan brings out the significance of Man for it is through him that the question of Being arises. Man has to delve within in the depths of his own being or
consciousness and realize the metaphysical truth within himself. It is a direct contact with his own being which makes him witness the Truth. Knowledge and
being realize identity.
Diwan brings out the idea that mere religiosity counts for nothing unless it is fuly infused with spirituality which perfumes the religious life. All knowledge is
veiled unless it is transformed into gnosis. The rituals are not ends in themselves but different modes of encountering Reality. The ritualistic psyche fails to
understand this thereby creating obstructions for itself and thereby distancing itself from the ultimate meaning of these rituals. How could any ritual remain
bereft of the Divine Presence? One may, at times, in a state of spiritual intoxication even transcend the ritualistic and habitual modes of behavior. The
moralistic psyche is a split psyche far removed from being genuinely moral. The social and cultural matrix becomes oppressive once it fails to be in
consonance with the law of things.
Diwan-e-Fareed is comprised of 272 kafis.