ABSTRACT
Akbar was the third Emperor of India. He was of Mongol-Turkish lineage, descending from both Chingiz Khan and Timur. Akbar may have found some relief in his perplexities in discussing them with this young man so well acquainted with all forms of Islamic thought and, at the same time, thanks to his upbringing and to his youthful experiences, so adverse to following blindly the paths of orthodox teaching. His religious ideas coincided with his political thought. When a mere boy, he felt the attraction of Sufic poetry, inspired by the mystical absorption of the Soul in God. At the beginning of 1574 Abul Fazl, then 23 years old, was also presented. He had been a precocious boy, completely engrossed in studies of all sorts, and teaching others while still in his teens. In the meantime, the gatherings in the House of Worship had gradually been changing in character.
