From Samarqand Overland to Bukhara
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April 9 Morning at Afrosiyab Hotel began with the 'standard' tahajjud, followed by Salat al-Fajr. |
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Some travelers took the early morning to pay a visit to the conqueror of Central Asia, Amir Timur, buried across from the hotel. |  |
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Prince Timur's maqam is at the feet of his own
Naqshbandi Shaykh.
This maqam, like many in Uzbekistan, has two levels. The upper one is covered by an extremely beautiful and ornate dome with squinches and gilded calligraphy. |
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Directly under is the 'real' gravestones. This being Amir Timur's birthday, we were given special admittance to the underground graves. |  |
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The mosque at Amir Timur's maqam. |  |
| Bukhara Ash-Sharif | ||
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| The entire tour group then set out overland for Bukhara ash-Sharif, the holy land of Bukhara. | ||
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Passing cotton fields and villages along the road, the entourage of tour coach busses got smiles and waves as it rolled slowly down the road under police escort. |
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| Khwaja Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani | ||
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The first stop on the way, 30 miles from Bukhara ash-Sharif, the maqam, madrasa and mosque of Khwaja Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani 11th in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. |
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There Shaykh Nazim led du`a for the Shaykh, another of the awliya that are alive in the Barzakh according the to the Quranic ayat: "Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord;"[3: 169] |
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The door of the Ka`aba, from the 6th century Hijri. It is related that the Ka`aba one day came from Makka to Ghujdawan and made tawaf of the Shaykh, and its door fell off (as a sign) and has remained ever since. |
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Following the du`as at the maqam, Salat al-Dhuhr was performed in the lovely mosque of Khwaja Abdul-Khaliq. The tour group then proceeded on to Bukhara ash-Sharif and the Bukhara Hotel, where they rested for the remainder of the day. |
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 April
8 |
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April
10 |