Sarmad, a great Sufi saint who lived in Gwalior, was asked by the Emperor Aurangzeb to attend the mosque, for it was against the rules of the time that anyone kept away from the regular prayers, which took place in the mosque of the State. Sarmad, being a man of ecstasy, living every moment of his day and night in union with God, being God-conscious himself, perhaps forgot or refused. A certain time of prayer or a certain place for prayer to him was nothing; every place to him was a place of prayer; every time was a time of prayer; his every breath was a prayer. As he refused to attend prayers he was beheaded for breaking the rules which were made for everyone. The consequence was that the Mogul Empire declined and its downfall can be dated from that time; the entire Mogul civilization, unique in its period, fell to pieces.