Shamas Faqir

Shamas Faqir (شمس فقیر in Kashmiri) was a Kashmiri Sufi poet. He belonged to the Qadiriyya silsila of Sufism.

Shamas Faqeer R.A.
Title	Shamas Faqir.
Other names	Shamas Seab,
Personal
Born	Mohammad Sidiq Bhat 1843 Habba Kadal Srinagar
Died	1901
Resting place	Krishpore, Khan Saheb, Budgam, Kashmir.
Religion	Islam
Ethnicity	Kashmiris
Era	19th century
Region	Jammu and Kashmir
Denomination	Ishq, (Sufi)
Main interest(s)	Sufism, Tasawuf
Notable work(s)	Sufi poetry
Tariqa	Qadiriyya.
Other names	Shamas Seab,

Shamas Faqir was born Mohammad Sidiq Bhat in 1843, to a poor family in Chinkral Mohalla, Srinagar, Kashmir. He didn't receive formal education, but became apprenticed to Niama Saeb, a Kashmiri Sufi poet. He became a disciple of Souch Maliar, Abdul Rehman of Burzalla, Atiq-Ullah of Gulab Bagh, Mohammad Jammal and Rasool Saeb.

When aged 25 he left for Amritsar, in the Indian Punjab, where he became a disciple of another Sufi Saint. After his return from Amritsar he lived in Anantnag, Kashmir, where he married. He returned to his ancestral home in Srinagar for some time, subsequently meditating for six months in a cave at Qazi Bagh in the Budgam district of Kashmir. Following this he lived in Krishpore.

Many of his poems are on the theme of a mystic's quest for the primal cause of the universe. Shamas Faqir's poems used the Kashmiri idiom of his time, and also words from Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit. His poem Merajnama recounts Mohammed's spiritual journey to God.

Shamas Faqir died in 1901, and was buried at Krishpore in Kashmir. He had two sons and a daughter.[1]