Abu-al-Mughith-al-Husayn-ibn-Mansur-al-Hallaj (858-March 26, 922 CE) was born in the village of Madina al-Bayda in Fars. He grew up amidst cotton fields, the son of a cotton-carder (“al-hallaj”). His grandfather was a Zoroastrian and his father a simple Muslim, while he, in classic ‘‘little Sufi’’ pattern, forsook his playmates to learn the Koran by heart and study with local holy men.

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He married, had three sons, went on Haj and travelled up to Gujarat, Sindh and even China, teaching and writing. Many followed him with love on a second pilgrimage to Mecca, but jealous mullahs kept him out. He then settled in Abbasid Baghdad. His guru, Shaykh al-Junayd, believed that mystic teachings should be kept secret and shared only with the worthy. But al-Hallaj was so God-intoxicated that he told everybody, just as Ramanuja climbed the temple spire to shout aloud the life-giving mantra “Om Namo Narayanaya” that all could hear and benefit.

Believing in the perfect One-ness of the One, al-Hallaj once declared, “Ana al-Haq!” (I am the Truth). This gave the orthodoxy their chance to brand him a zindiq (heretic), since al-Haq (Satyam) is one of Allah’s 99 Names. The Caliphs colluded, fearing he had stirred up anti-monarchic sentiments during his wanderings in their far provinces.

Al-Hallaj had a long trial and was locked into a Baghdad jail for eleven years before being publicly tortured and crucified. Many wrote that he was serene throughout and even forgave his executioners, dying like a parvana (moth) drawn into the shamma (flame) of Godlove. To our ears, his words sing with the music of Advaita or Wahdat, the unity of man and God: “I saw my Lord with the eye of my heart and said, ‘Who are You’? He said, ‘You’” (Diwan al-Hallaj).