History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c38.s4.1

v3.c38.s4.1

A heavier punishment fell on the renowned Sufi ascetic best known by his poetical pen-name of SARMAD† (or Chief). This man was born of Jewish stock at Kashan in Persia and made himself a scholar (rabbi) by the study of the Hebrew Scriptures. Then he embraced Islam and, taking the name of Muhammad Said, cultivated Islamic philosophy under two renowned professors in Persia. Coming over to India, like so many other Persians, as a trader, he met at Tatta a Hindu lad named Abhay Chand, with whom he was so infatuated that he gave up his business, became a naked faqir, and induced Abhay Chand to be his disciple. The youth was carefully instructed by him in the Pentateuch and the Psalms, and even translated the first few chapters of the Book of Moses into Persian. Then Sarmad went to Haidarabad in the Deccan (about 1647); but as the wazir Shaikh Muhammad Khan did not help him to have audience of Qutb Shah, he came back in disappointment to Delhi, where Dara Shukoh made much of him and introduced him to the favour of Shah Jahan. The prince used to pay frequent visits to the naked *faqir* and listen to his teaching of Sufism.