Islam • 121both of which inclined towards a universalist vision. Akbar
wanted to build the model society that the Faylasufs had de-
scribed. His biographer, the Sufi historian Abdulfazl Allami
(1551-1602), saw Akbar as the ideal philosopher-king. He
also believed that he was the Perfect Man, whom Sufis
thought to exist in each generation to give divine guidance to
the ummah. Akbar was establishing a civilization, which, Al-
lami argued, would help people to cultivate a spirit of such
generosity that conflict would become impossible. It was a
polity that expressed the Sufi ideal of sulh-e kull ("universal
peace"), which was merely a prelude to mahahhat-e hull, the
"universal love" which would positively seek the material and
spiritual welfare of all human beings. From this perspective,
bigotry was non-sense; the ideal Faylasuf king, such as Akbar,
was above the parochial prejudice of narrow sectarianism.
Some Muslims, however, were offended by Akbar's reli-
gious pluralism. Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1625), who was also a
Sufi, felt that this universalism (which he laid at the door of
Ibn al-Arabi) was dangerous. Sirhindi proclaimed that he
himself rather than Akbar was the Perfect Man of the age.
Unity with God could only be achieved when Muslims pi-
ously observed the laws of the Shariah, which by this time was
becoming more sectarian in its outlook. In the early part of
the seventeenth century, however, few Muslims in India sub-
scribed to Sirhindi's views. Shah Jihan, Akbar's grandson, who
reigned from 1627 to 1658, kept in the main to Akbar's poli-
cies. His Taj Mahal continued his grandfather's tradition of
blending Muslim with Hindu styles of architecture. At his
court, he patronized Hindu poets and Muslim scientific
works were translated into Sanskrit. But Shah Jihan tended to
be hostile to Sufism and his piety was based more strictly on
the Shariah than Akbar's had been.
He proved to be a transitional figure. By the end of the
century, it was clear that the Moghul Empire had begun its