Abdul
Thirty years beside Baba and decades beside his tomb: Abdul’s life of watchful service and faith.
Sai BabaDevotee experienceVolume 3
The chapter
Abdul came to Shirdi around 1890 after Sai Baba appeared in the dream of Fakir Amiruddin of Nanded and instructed him to send Abdul with two mangoes. Baba welcomed the young man as “my crow” and gave him a life of service. Abdul fed the lamps at the Lendi, Mosque and Chavadi, read the Koran near Baba, and lived close to him even when Baba initially gave him no food.
Abdul recorded Baba’s words in a notebook written in Marathi and Modi script. He regarded that notebook as his Koran: when people came with questions, he opened it in faith and found guidance. When a well at the Sai Mandir produced brackish water, the book directed that it be dug deeper; after two more feet, the water became sweet. In another consultation it correctly foretold the return of Barrister Gadgil’s son from England with his English wife and children.
Abdul maintained the perpetual lamp at the Lendi and was sometimes alone with Baba there. Baba told him to eat little, sleep little, meditate on what he read, and ask, “Who am I?” After Baba’s Mahasamadhi Abdul decorated the tomb, arranged its clothes and flowers, received the first prasad, and continued serving the shrine until his death in 1954.
The chapter presents Abdul’s long fidelity as active devotion: he performed menial and scavenging work without seeking reward, gave udhi to those who needed help, and remained beside his Guru through both the physical life and the afterlife of the Sansthan.
Editorial note: This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.