1869.] The District of Liididna. 101 



his translation of the Qaniin i Islam devotes one chapter to this saint 

 under the name of Pir i Dastgir (pages 237 to 241). This saint, 

 who is esteemed by educated Muhammadans the chief among Walis, 

 was horn in the year 471 H. in Jilan (Gilan) During.thirty-three 

 years, he prepared himself for the dignity of wali. He died in 561 

 A. H., being then 90 years of age, and was buried at Bagdad. In per- 

 sonal appearance he is described as a handsome man. Among the 

 greatest and most popular of his miracles are the following. While 

 he was an infant at the breast, the month of Ramazan came round. 

 The neighbours were prevented by the clouds from seeing the moon, and 

 were in doubt whether they should begin the fast or not. On inquiry 

 from the parents of 'Abdul Qadir, they found that he had refused 

 the breast ever since sunrise, and this indication of the precocious 

 young saint was accepted as conclusive. 



Again a mother was travelling with her son to celebrate his marriage 

 with the betrothed. As they were crossing the river Indus, a 

 storm arose, and upset the boat. The boy was drowned, but the 

 old woman escaped to the bank. There she remained for twelve 

 years praying to the Pir i Dastgir ; at the end of that period the 

 saint appeared, and at her request prayed that the drowned boy 

 and his comrades might be restored to life. Twice the holy man 

 prostrated himself on the ground without result ; after the third 

 prostration, the boat and its passengers reappeared on the river. 

 The cause of the delay was that the bodies of the drowned had been 

 devoured by fish, and the fish in their turn had become the food 

 of men, many of whom had died in the interval. It had been 

 necessary to collect the scattered fragments of the drowned before they 

 were re-animated. On another occasion the saint converted a thief 

 who was in the act of stealing from him, and made this same thief 

 the Qutb or Chief among the darweshes of the city. 



A fourth and equally notorious anecdote refers to the punishment 

 inflicted on a wali named Shaikh fan'an for disputing the supremacy 

 of Piran i Pir. The latter had composed a qacida in which the 

 following couplet occurred : 



" 1 amt he resident of Jilan, my name is Muhiyyuddin, and my foot 

 (is on the necks of men," Shaikh gan'an denied that 'Abdul Qadir'sfoot 



