He was born in 1898 in Khorja town of Buland-Sheher district (U.P.) India. He was "Syed" (descendent of the Holy Prophet). His father name was Syed Mehdi Badi-uddin Sherdil, and mother was Syeda Sa'ida. Qalandar Baba's maternal grandfather was a cousin of the great Sufi Saint Hazrat Baba Tajuddin Nagpuri. Qalandar Baba's birth-name was Mohammad Azeem; "Barkhiya" was his title; later he became famous with the name of "Qalandar Baba Auliya" after entering into the sainthood.

He completed his primary education in Khorja, and highschool in Buland-Sheher. Then he went to Aligarh for higher education, there he inclined towards sufism. It became his routine to study during the day time, and at nights he used to go to Maulana Kabuli, who lived in an isolated closet near the graveyard. After sometime, he went to his maternal grandfather Hazrat Baba Tajuddin in Nagpur. Baba Tajuddin understood about his spiritual inclination towards sufism, so he told him to stay in Nagpur. When Qalandar Baba Auliya's father knew that he left his education & staying with Baba Tajuddin, he went there & asked Baba Tajuddin that it is necessary for him to continue his education in Aligarh, so let him go to Aligarh. But Baba Tajuddin's divine eyes were watching far beyond, so he refused to send Qalandar Baba Auliya to Aligarh, and convinced his father. Then his father said to Qalandar Baba: "Son, you are an intelligent person, so make your future as you want". He then left.

Qalandar Baba Auliya lived with Baba Tajuddin in Nagpur for 9 years, and in those nine years Baba Tajuddin taught him divine knowledge.

During that time, his mother died, leaving four daughters & two sons behind her. Qalandar Baba Auliya was number two, only one sister was elder from him and all others were younger. So then he became busy to look after his family, and later Baba Tajuddin arranged his marriage with one of his desciples' daughter in Delhi. So then he lived in Delhi, and worked as a journalist. He was fond of poetry, and also was himself a poet.

After the partition of the sub-continent in 1947 A.D., Qalandar Baba Auliya migrated to Pakistan along with his family, and stayed in Karachi's Lyari locality. Because at that time Karachi city wasn't so much developed, so there he had problems to find a job. After having some temporary jobs, he then joined the "Dawn" newspaper & became a sub-editor, also later he joined some other newspapers & magazines.

In 1956 A.D. a well known dervish of Suhurwardiya Sufi Order, Hazrat Abul-Fayz Qalandar Ali Suhurwardi, came to Karachi. Qalandar Baba Auliya went to him & asked for Bay't, he told Qalandar Baba Auliya to come at 3 A.M. Those were that days of winter season. Qalandar Baba Auliya went at 2 A.M., to the hotel where Hazrat Abul-Fayz was staying, he sat on the doorsteps. At 3 A.M, Hazrat Abul-Fayz opened the door of his room & took Qalandar Baba inside. Qalandar Baba Auliya sat before Hazrat Abul-Fayz, and Hazrat Abul-Fayz blew three times on the forehead of Qalandar Baba Auliya. On first blow, the Alam-e-Arwah (Cosmic World) was disclosed to Qalandar Baba Auliya; on second blow, the Aalam-e-Malkut & Jabrut (Worlds of Omnipotence); on third blow, the Arsh-e-Mu'alla (The Empyrean).

Hazrat Abul-Fayz Qalandar Ali Suhurwardi completed his teachings of Qutub-e-Irshad (Spiritual Monarch) to Qalandar Baba Auliya, in three weeks. After that, Hazrat Shaikh Najmuddin Kubra's spirit started to teach divine knowledge to Qalandar Baba Auliya, and that chian of teaching continued, and one after one, many Sufi Saints' spirits taught Qalandar Baba Auliya the divine knowledge, and then finally that chain of spiritual teaching finished when The Holy Prophet directly taught the divine knowledge to Qalandar Baba Auliya. And during those days, Qalandar Baba Auliya was sleepless for ten days, he was busy in prayers & reading the Holy Qur'an.

When Qalandar Baba Auliya was working as a journalist in the "Naqqad" magazine in Karachi, it was his routine that he went to the closet of Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi (his favored disciple), where people came to have discussion on different topics with him. Once Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi reached to his home, one person told him that two strangers have come to meet Qalandar Baba Auliya, and he locked the door from inside to discuss with them. Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi thought to serve them with tea, so he went to the market to bring the milk. When he reached home, no one was there. Later, he went to Qalandar Baba's office & inquired him about the two strangers who visited him. Qalandar Baba Auliya replied: "They were Bu-Ali Shah Qalandar & Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, and they came to me to discuss about some laws".

Once Qalandar Baba Auliya went to Bhit-Shah to visit the tomb of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, with some of his desciples & friends. After reaching there, when others were praying, Qalandar Baba Auliya quickly went to the mosque adjacent to the tomb, where Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai was present & waiting for him. Qalandar Baba Auliya shook hand with him with respect, and said: "Shah Saheb! there are some people with me, they would be afraid". After listening to these words, Shah Latif Bhitai disappeared.

On one occasion, Qalandar Baba Auliya said: "Miracle isn't any strange thing to occur, when some one's Conscious would be subdued by his Pre-Conscious, then the such kind of things would occur by him that aren't normal. And people call that as Miracle, but in real it is illusion. But spiritual knowledge & spiritualy are quite different from that."

On the last days of life, Qalandar Baba Auliya fell ill, and had server pain. One day he asked God: "O my Lord! You made me a Master of Abdaals (Spiritual Monarches), and making me suffer by such severe pains! If my life is over, then send me death, so that I would be  free. God replied to him: "Keep quiet! I let my dear ones to go through the same experiences, by which the common people go through." Then God asked him: "Do you want to live?" Qalandar Baba Auliya replied: "I don't want to be alive for myself" God said: "Ask Awais Qarni". When later Qalandar Baba Auliya visited Hazrat Awais Qarni & asked him about that, he didn't reply & kept quiet. Qalandar Baba Auliya says: "Then I also kept quiet & didn't say anything, because once Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi was serverly ill, and one of his friends told him to ask God to save him from such sever pain. Hazrat Junaid replied him that he has already asked God about that, but God replied him: 'Keep quiet! Junaid is mine, and the illness is also mine, who are you to talk to me besides them?'"

Eight months before his death, Qalandar Baba Auliya completley stopped to eat, and only drank a bowl of milk in 24 hours. And before three days of death, he also stopped that.

One week before of his death, he told to his desciples & friends: "I'll live for maximum one more week". And the day when he died, in the morning he told all people around him that today he would die. Before dying, he asked his favored disciple Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi: "Shake hand with me", he shook hand with him, but no one there was able to understandd that mysterous act.

He died on January 27, 1979. His tomb is in Karachi.

He had four children, two sons & two daughters.

He wrote three books three books:

1. Tazkara-e-Baba Tajuddin.
2. Rubaiyat.
3. Loh-o-Qalam

•  A born deaf and dumb girl was brought to Qalandar Baba Auliya. He addressed the girl and asked her name. The dumb girl naturally remained mute. He asked her again, "Tell, what is your name?" She kept starring in silence. Qalandar Baba Auliya became angry & lifted his hand as if to hit her and said in an enraged tone, "Tell, what is your name?" And surprisingly she uttered her name and started to speak normally thereafter.

• Once Qalandar Baba Auliya told his favored disciple Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi that he saw some angles standing on a roadside in Karachi, and he asked them that why they are there? They replied that after few moments an accident would take place there, the people whose death time are fixed on later dates, we have to save them. On the next day the news about an accident published in the newspapers of Karachi, and the details of that accident were published in the news papers same as described by Qalandar Baba Auliya.

• Qalandar Baba Auliya had many disciples all around the world, they often used to write in their letters about Qalandar Baba Auliya's visit to them. It was the duty of Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi to read & reply the letters on behalf of Qalandar Baba Auliya, so he was surprised to read such letters, as Qalandar Baba Auliya never left Karachi, but many people saw him at the same time in many parts of the world. When Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi asked about it to Qalanda Baba Auliya, he smiled, and then said: "The high-ranked saints of God have 25 bodies working all the time. And if there would be excess of work, then the bodies would become more than 40."

• Once Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi was discussing with Qalndar Baba Auliya about the "Aura", he asked him if the Aura also can perform all works that our physical body performs? Qalandar Baba Auliya replied: "Yes, that's true" Khwaja Shamsuddin asked: "Could some one turn the electric swtich button on & off by his Aura?" As soon as Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi finished his above question, he heard a sound & the light of the room turned off, then again he heard a sound & the light turned on.