There&’s a mini-park in Mayfair Gardens’ bungalow locality, touching the walls of Siri Fort, where is situated the 15th century tomb of Makhdum Sahib, visited by devotees throughout the year. Sheikh Makhdum Sabswari (according to author Sadia Dehlvi) came to Delhi from Sabswar, in Central Asia, in the last years of the reign of Bahlul Lodi or the beginning of his son, Nizam Khan Sikandar Lodi’s reign in 1488.

He had been directed in a dream to go to India and preach his mission there. Makhdum Sahib’s sufi discourses were ardently heard by those who visited his jungle abode, where wild animals roamed about but did not harm anyone because of the (sic) influence of the saint, says a legend.

Eventually, the Lodi Sultan (father or son) heard of him and invited the dervish to the royal court. He went there reluctantly and came back dissatisfied with the sultan’s conduct.

Perhaps realising that he had offended the Sheikh, the sultan, while out hunting one day, decided to visit hiskhanqahor hospice.

What he saw there amazed him, for Makhdum Sahib was feeding a wild leopard with a bunch of grass as though it was a goat.

The sultan immediately dismounted from his horse and after offering his salaams decided to sit in a corner. The leopard was ordered to leave by the saint, who then turned his attention to the sultan.

The latter apologised for having been rude at the court and requested him not to leave his kingdom but continue to reside in it and bless its subjects. Makhdum Sahib nodded and gave the sultan (Bahlul or Sikandar) a tabiz, or amulet, which he had brought from Mecca.

He told him that so long as it was tied to his arm or that of his successors, the sultanate would continue to flourish,otherwise it would be conquered by an invader, whoand his descendants would rule long undisturbed.

The sultan took the tabiz, salaamed the saint again, mounted his horse and rode away.

As history shows, the third ruler of the dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi, lost the kingdom in 1526 to Babar, with whom the Mughal dynasty started and continued to rule India until 1858, when Queen Victoria proclaimed herself empress and Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Rangoon.

One tends to believe the story about the saint&’s prediction but at the same time wonders what happened to the amulet. Did Ibrahim Lodi forget to tie it around his biceps at the First Battle of Panipat, or did the tabiz somehow get lost?

Maybe yes or no; also the prediction may not have been wholly true after all. But standing in front of the mazaar of Makhdum Sahib one tries to banish these thoughts lest they be regarded as sacrilegious.

The reason for visiting the mosque and mazaar of Makhdum Sahib was a strange story related by Hafiz Manzoor Ahmed of Basti Nizamuddin during a winter evening in 1981.

The Hafiz died not long after but what he said continued to feed one’s curiosity for the past 33 years until the temptation to visit Makhdum Sahib’s shrine could no longer be resisted.

Now this is the story Manzoor Ahmed related: There was a widow named Nadira, whose husband Siddique had died without leaving an heir.Nadira was 55 years old,lonely and sad, when she came to the shrine one afternoon in the first decade of the 20th century.

She had either been told by somebody, or had the urge herself, to pray there. And the prayer was strange for a woman of her age. She sought the saint’s blessing for a son, who could continue his father’s lineage.

She prayed with tears in her eyes and all at once experienced a sensation, which passed through her face, bosom and lower abdomen and then ceased to excite her.

Nadira then had a great urge to go to the toilet but as there was none near the shrine she squatted under a tree. When she got up she felt as though she had just conceived.

The widow went home dazed and had a dream the same night in which she saw a bent, old man blessing her and confirming that her wish had been fulfilled.

Believe it or not, nine months later Nadira gave birth to a son who was strange in his behaviour at first and did not either speak or walk properly. But after three years he began to improve and by the time he was five was able to attend school.

He turned out to be a brilliant student and, following graduation, secured a good government job. His name was Javed and after he got married and became the father of twin boys,Nadira died. Javed migrated to Dhacca (now Dhaka) and what happened to him and his family was not known to Manzoor Ahmed.

But one supposes it flourished with the saint’s blessing. Incidentally, Makhdum Sahib’s tomb is still in a fairly good condition on Khel Gaon Marg, its stone-domed roof (with four decorative minars) supported on 12 pillars. Both the tomb and the mosque on the north are protected monuments.

The masjid has several prayer chambers and a fluted roof. However, the huge gate near it, which was erected in Tughlak times,is not in a good state of preservation though it too is protected by the ASI.

Besides Makhdum Sahib, there have been other saints who’ve been credited with sensational happenings too. One remembers a childhood friend, Dilshad, whose mother was having difficulty during delivery.It was midnight and midwife, tired after her futile attempts to make the woman, Intazari, deliver, fell asleep, along with the other inmates of the house.

Only Intazari lay awake, praying to the Sayyid Baba, whose grave was right in the midst of her Ghattia locality. Suddenly, a man dressed in medieval clothes, with a long white beard, appeared by her side.

He nudged Intazari and said, "Beti, loosen your pyjama string." She did so and the child, long in coming, was born almost effortlessly.

The Baba immediately disappeared and hearing the baby’s cry, the midwife and all others in the house awoke to find out that a miraculous birth had taken place without anybody’s efforts. They asked Intazari and she told to them what had happened.

"It must have been Sayyid Sahib of our mohalla, who had visited you and fecilitated the delievery," said her husband, Sultan. He immediately rushed out and was met on the way by an acquaintance Kale, who told him that he was returning after seeing a late night show at Taj Talkies when he saw a strange sight.

A white horse was tied to the steel pole that divided the street. Soon an old, bearded man appeared, sat on the horse and rode away.

After that both of them went to Sayyid Baba’s grave and found the green cloth covering it lying on one side, as though somebody removed it, and all the extinguished earthen lamps upturned.

Both men were convinced that the Baba had come out of the grave, but where did the white horse come from?

The answer they got from a learned Pir was that the Baba’s horse too had been resurrected,along with him.Strange indeed, but Dilshad’s family had no doubts till they left for Pakistan in 1947 with the new born Aslam Rs The Baba’s gift.