The Generations · The Friends of God
quddisa sirruhu
Charkh · returned to his Lord 851 AH
A towering figure in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, Shaykh Yaʿqub al-Charkhi was both a master of external Islamic sciences and a luminary of inner spiritual knowledge. Born near Kabul, he excelled in Qur’an, hadith, fiqh, and logic — memorizing 500,000 hadiths and becoming a mujtahid mutlaq, an independent scholar of Islamic law.
His path continues ↓His portrait is his lamp: no image survives, and none is needed.
Despite his scholarly status, his true longing was for the inner path. He became a devoted student of Shaykh Shah Naqshband ق and was later guided by Shaykh Alauddin al-Attār ق. Through deep spiritual training, he journeyed from knowledge of the tongue to knowledge of the heart. His mystical experiences included visions of the entire Golden Chain of masters and instruction in the science of wuqūf ʿadadi (awareness of numbers in dhikr), a secret passed through Khidr ع.
He said:
“I was so deeply immersed in the fountain of light and love that was my Shaykh, that I visited him again and again, my love for him growing with every step. One day, I opened the Holy Qur’an and found the verse:
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ ۖ فَبِهُدَىٰهُمُ ٱقْتَدِهْ ۗ
Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so follow their guidance.’
-- Surah Al- Anam (6:90)
My heart overflowed with joy to read that verse, it was as if the Qur’an itself confirmed the path I was walking.”
He passed away on the 5th of Safar in the Hijri year 851.
