He is famous for being a spiritual instructor of Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

[1] He was a friend of God-loving people and he would shun worldly, selfish men, greedy Emirs and ambitious Nawabs who ran after faqirs to get their blessings.

Mian Mir's sentinels however, stopped the emperor at the gate and requested him to wait until their master had given permission to enter.

Unable to hide his wounded vanity, Jahangir, as soon as he entered, told Mian Mir in Persian: Ba dar-e-darvis darbane naa-bayd ("On the doorstep of a faqir, there should be no sentry").

The reply from Mian Mir was, "Babayd keh sage dunia na ayad" (So that selfish men may not enter).

Then, with folded hands, Jahangir requested Mian Mir to pray for the success of the campaign which he intended to launch for the conquest of the Deccan.

However, it may be possible that this tradition is historically true, and may have been suppressed during the earlier period because of Sikhs' conflicts with the Muslim Mughals and Afghans.

[8] According to the Tawarikh-i-Punjab (1848), written by Ghulam Muhayy-ud-Din alias Bute Shah, Mian Mir laid the foundation of the Sikh shrine Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), at the request of Guru Arjan Dev.

[1] Mian Mir's Mazar (Mausoleum) still attracts hundreds of devotees each day and he is revered by many Sikhs as well as Muslims.