Sachal Sarmast

Timeline (1739 - 1829)

The name Sachal Sarmast can be translated as Mystic of Truth. He is sometimes called Sachoo, The Truthful.

Sachal Sarmast was born in the Sindh region of what is today Pakistan, and is considered one of the great poets and Sufi mystics to emerge from the region.

His teachings have often been compared with al-Hallaj, the Sufi martyr who ecstatically proclaimed, "I am the Truth." Rather than blindly following tradition, Sachal urged people to seek the truth directly. And like ibn Arabi and others, Sachal Sarmast taught a vision of Unity called Wahdat al-Wujud, which others have compared to the great nondualist teachings of Advaita Vedanta within Hinduism and Zen/Chan within Buddhism.

Sachal Sarmast once said, "He (God) is everywhere and in each and every phenomenon. He has come here just to witness His own manifestation."

Sachal Sarmast was born Abdul Wahab in the village of Daraza in the Sindh region. His father died when you was a young child, and Abdul Wahab was raised by his uncle, who also became his spiritual master.

His soul was deeply moved by music. Listening to music, he was enraptured, with tears pouring down his face.

A story is told that the Sufi master Shah Abdul Latif met the young Sachal Sarmast. Shah Abdul Latif later said, "I have set a fire beneath the pot. He will remove the lid."

Sachal Sarmast married his cousin, but the young woman died two years later. He never remarried.

He took the name Sachal, Truth. Later people added Sarmast, Leader of the Ecstatics, to his name in appreciation of his spiritual poetry.

Sachal Sarmast lived a humble, ascetic life, preferring solitude, simple meals of daal and yogurt. It is said that he never left Daraza, the village of his birth.

Yet he composed sacred poetry in seven different languages, poetry that is loved and sung to this day.

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Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a good single source of Sachal Sarmast's poetry in English. I've only discovered scattered verses translated on the Internet. We are waiting for a book of inspired translations of Sachal Sarmast.