His real name was Sharfuddin but he is well knowned by his title Bu Ali Shah Qalandar.His father Syed Muhammad Abu al Hassan (Fakhar Uddin) also known as Fakhar e Alam was a great scholar and saint of his time. His father was buried in Village Kirman Parachinar, Pakistan. He is from the ancestry of forth shia Imam Zain-ul-Abidin. His large descendants reside in Pakistan and are known as Husseini. He completed his studies at an early age and subsequently taught near the Qutub Minar in Delhi for 20 years. He published a collection of Persian poetry by the name of "Diwan Hazrat Sharafuddeen Bu Ali Qalandar" which was later translated by Khawaja Shahudin in Punjabi. It was a great Sufi work in Persian language. Some other famous Qalandars include Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and Shams Ali Qalandar.