Colored Portrait of Jahan Ara

Jahan Ara Begum was as famed for her beauty as she was revered for her intellect. Her brother, Dara Shikoh initiated her into the Sufi order, particularly the Qadiriya order. After much search and failed appeals, the famed Sufi saint Mulla Shah took her under his wings. She went on to author a biography on him titled Ṣaḥibia. Such was their bond that he wanted to name her his successor but the rules of the Order forbade it.
The Sufi Princess also wrote a biographical account of Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chisti, the philosopher and spiritual guide who established the Chisti order of Sufism. Titled Munis-ul-Arwah ("The Companion Spirits"), the book is an example of her flair for prose and poetry.