Amir Hasan Sijzi

(1254-1337)

   A noted poet and compiler of Fawaid al-fawad, the discourses of the influential Chishti Sufi Shaikh Nizam al-Din Auliya, and a close friend of Amir Khusrau and Ziya' Barani. Amir Hasan was born at Badaun. He came to Delhi at an early age. While pursuing his studies there, he started composing Persian verses at the age of 13. Getting the job of a personal attendant with Sultan Balban's favorite son, Prince Muhammad, he went with the latter to Multan around 1280 and stayed there until 1286. In Multan, Amir Hasan first met Amir Khusrau. On Prince Muhammad's death in 1286 during a skirmish with Mongols near Lahore, Amir Hasan wrote an elegy where he attributes the Mongols' failure to advance into India to the beneficence of Chishti Sufis. Later he joined the service of Sultan Jalal al-Din Firuz Shah Khalji (1290-1296). During 'Ala al-Din Khalji's reign (1296-1316), he rendered military service at Lakhnauti and Deogir. While residing at Delhi during the reign of 'Ala al-Din Khalji, Amir Hasan started visiting Shaikh Nizam al-Din and in 1308 became a disciple of the great shaikh. Sometime after Nizam al-Din Auliya's demise in 1325, Amir Hasan migrated to Daulatabad, where he died on 26 September 1337.