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Därä Shukoh: A Crown Prince in search of Truth and Harmony
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In the temple thou causest the bells to chime The idol, the temple, as also in the religious sacrimoniousness, In the Ka'ba people pray unto Thee And desire Thine union. The manifest and the hidden all emanate from Thee,
As also the drop and the ocean.
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The work is fuull of quotations, verses and poems.
It seems that by 1650 or so, opposition to Dara's views and writings in the orthodox circles was becoming more vocal and threatening which made him realise the need of silencing these critics but in a manner becoming of a scholar. The Crown Prince brought out another work Hasanät ul-Arifin or Aphorisms of the Saints (1650). He says that being enamoured of studying books on the ways of the saints of the Path and having no object but 'attainment of Unity of God', he had in a state of ecstasy uttered some words 'pertaining to the sublime knowledge' which made the bigoted and narrow minded persons to accuse him of heresy and apostasy. To silence them, he thought of compiling aphorisms of saints who were great believers in the unity of God and who had knowledge of the true Reality."
Besides the Mullas and orthodox Ulemā, whom he vehemently denounces, the orthodox powerful political clique (Wazir Sadulla Khān and Prince Aurangzeb) were also keen to portray him in a bad light, smelling no doubt a war of succession in not too distant a future. Dārā had very low opinion of the small minded, hypocritical and noisome Mullas. It seems that Dārā was now determined to face these orthodox elements more openly since he regarded his own views in conformity with the Truth About the Mullās, he wrote,
"Paradise is there where no Mullā abides, Where the noise of his discussion and debate is not heard. May the world become free from the noise of the Mullā,
May no one pay any heed to his fatwas!! His opinion of the Ulema was hardly better, "As a matter of fact" he writes, these Ulemă are ignoramuses to themselves and learned to the ignorant.
Dārā was aware of the potential for mischief from these orthodox elements who claimed to be the sole spokesmen on any point related to Muslim law and religion.
"What disavowals did the Satan hurl at Adam? Said Hussain (Mansür Hallāj) "I am the Truth", and got the gollows. Every prophet and saint who suffered affliction and torments,
(It was) due to the vicious ignominous conduct of the Mullās. No wonder that at the farcical trial, got up by Aurangzeb after Dārā had lost the war of Succession and was brought as a prisoner to Delhi (1659), the Ulema decreed that Dārā deserved death being a threat to Islam and on account of his apostasy, a decision which suited Aurangzeb, the new Emperor. 20
