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The tale of a blind mendicant

The Walled City was home to many a mendicant. R.V. SMITH tells us the story of the blind Hafiz Nabina Doliwaley, credited with the knack of predicting things

Hafiz Nabina Doliwaley. The name is a hazy memory now. He was the blind mendicant who lived under a neem tree near the southern gate of the Jama Masjid in Delhi. Nobody really knew his name, except that he was a man who knew the Quran by heart, was blind (Nabina) and loved to travel in a doli or palanquin.

Haji Mian, a hotelier, recalls that he saw the mendicant when he was a young boy and used to frequent the stairs of the Jama Masjid, along with his friends. That was in 1947, the year the blind Hafiz died. He used to be invariably naked and either muttering or shouting just one word. Before the partition he used to go on repeating "Toofan", meaning a devastating storm. And indeed a storm did burst upon the residents of Delhi in the shape of bloody riots.

Hafiz was born around 1860, when Bahadur Shah Zafar was still alive. At the time of his death Nabina was 87-years-old, and nearly everybody in the Walled City knew him. Many believed that he was a majzoob (a man possessed). Was it the jinns who had taken possession of him? A man who is a majzoob is lost in himself with hardly any interest in the world around. Food, clothes, shelter, attachments are all immaterial to him. But such a person is also a creature of moods. And there is no knowing which mood may seize him. Hafiz Nabina would sometimes call for a doliwala passing by and jump into the palanquin, ordering the man to take him to Nizamuddin dargah, or to Mehrauli or the Yamuna front or any other place, as he fancied. Sometimes he stayed away for days before returning to his abode under the neem tree. Haji Zahooruddin was among those who knew him well. And sometimes coaxed him to eat the khana he brought from his hotel or home.

Late in the evening someone passing by the neem tree would hear Hafiz Nabina call out to him, "Kam ban jayega", next day he was pleasantly surprised to see that his affairs had taken a turn for the better - whether it was litigation, a love affair, a family problem or a monetary dispute. The Hafiz did have the knack of predicting things through monosyllables.

Hafiz Nabina Doliwaley is buried in the graveyard behind Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. His grave is quite close to that of Haji Zahooruddin and is sometimes lit up with candles and joss sticks on Thursdays. The caretaker has also decorated it with coloured paper. He is among those who believe that Hafiz was a majzoob who has not really died. "Din aur duniya se purdah leh liya hai (Has just covered himself with a shroud so that nobody in the world can see him). One really doesn't know what to make of the statement. But the mystery of the strange man survives.

Sarmad's tale

Not far from the neem tree where Nabina lived is the grave of another mystic, Sarmad, who also used to wander about naked. But that was during the reign of Aurangzeb, who eventually beheaded the Armenian Sufi for alleged sacrilege. Some of the old timers believe that Hafiz Nabina was a reincarnation of Sarmad. But others deny this, saying Islam does not recognise reincarnation, though it could have been that the Armenian had miraculously reappeared in the guise of a blind, old mendicant. That too, however, is open to question in the light of reason and logic. But in matters of belief rationality takes a back seat and so faith lingers on.

Another person who comes to mind in this connection was Mian. He lived near the shrine of Kalimullah Sahib, opposite the Red Fort, and walked and spoke with great difficulty. Mian was old, with a face full of devotion and his beard added to his charm. This holy man was content to live on alms and many just regarded him as a beggar. But he was far above that. Those who had faith in him sought his blessings and claimed that all their problems vanished overnight.

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