Baba Shah Inayat Qadiri Shatari (Punjabi: شاه عنایت قادري , also called Enayat Shah (1643–1728) was a Sufi scholar and saint of the Qadiri-Shatari silsila (lineage). Shah Inayat Qadiri is famous as the spiritual guide of the universal Punjabi poets Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah.[1][2]
Baba is an honorific term used as a sign of respect to Sufi saints. It is a term similar to "father" or "wise old man". Shah is another honorific referring to a king. Inayat is an Islamic male first name. Qadiri is an Islamic surname. Shatari or Shattari refers to a tariqah, a Sufi mystical order.
Shah Inayat was born in an Arain house.[2] He was a Sufi scholar and activist associated with the Qadiri-Shattari silsila (lineage). Shah Inayat was the son of Mawlawi Pir Mohammad of Kasur, who was an Imam.
He was the student of Shah Raza and teacher of Bulleh Shah.[3] He was a gardener or farmer by profession.[3]
He used to work in Kasur, but because of the animosity of the city's ruler, Nawab Hussain Khan, he was forced to migrate to Lahore.[3]
Shah Inayat is remembered as a preacher, a religious scholar, a philosopher and a saint. A brief biographical note on him was published in 1984 in Lahore.[2] Shah Inayat was a scholar of mysticism. He wrote mostly in Persian. His works include: