Ali Usman Baig : Shrine & Mosque of Hazrat Shaikh Hamid Qari Soharwardi in 2014 & 2022

Monday, 15 August 2022

Shrine & Mosque of Hazrat Shaikh Hamid Qari Soharwardi in 2014 & 2022

January 2014

The walled enclosure containing Hamid Qari's grave and mosque is located in close proximity of the tomb of Ali Mardan Khan. Infact, to access this enclosure, you have to use the same passageway that is used to access Ali Mardan Khan's tomb in the Pakistan Railways property. Approximately 3/4 of the way through the passageway, a passage veers on the left, and leads to the large enclosure with a shrine and the historical mosque.

As you enter inside the enclosure, you are awed by the peace and serenity that pervades here. Chitter chatter of local birds and the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind are enough to put you in a trance just like the saint's recitation of the Quran would have done to the people of his time. Hamid, son of Husn-e-Alam was a man of great learning in Lahore during the reign of Muhammed Shah. He was born in Lahore in 1660 AD. He used to recite the Quran in a beautiful musical voice, on which account he was called Qari. He died in 1752 AD.

Near the southern wall of the enclosure is a well and two wash chambers. Beside them is the mosque that Hamid Qari built himself. He ran a school in the mosque to give religious instruction to the children. The single domed mosque has three arched entrances with the middle one being larger than the other two. Over the central arch of the mosque, the following verses are inscribed:

Khudawand ra shukr daram biyad - Chah khush masjid az dast-e-maskeen nihad

Khard guft dar saal tarikh aan - Ze aafaat dauran zwalash mabad

I have to offer thanks to God - for His having enabled this humble person to build a mosque

Reason said for the date of its foundation - May it never suffer from the calamities of the world

The last verse gives 1141 AH (1728 AD) as the date of the foundation of the building. To the north of the mosque is a room for the dervishes. In front for the courtyard of the mosque is the water tank (no longer in use). To the north of the water tank is another enclosure containing the grave of Hamid Qari on a platform. The grave and the platform have been much renovated now but fortunately the mosque and the well are still relatively unaltered from original.