In this article, I discuss the vilification of Kṛṣṇa as a deceitful sorcerer in the Mughal poet-laureate Shaikh Abū'l Faiḍ bin Mubārak, or ‘Faiḍī's Mahābhārat and his correspondent apotheosis as the ‘essence of the True God' in the Shāriq al-maʿrifat, a treatise also ascribed to Faiḍī. As I argue, this inconsistency, or ambivalence, is a common and overlooked facet of the elite Islamicate engagement with religious diversity and difference in early modern Hindustan. In the case of the Mahābhārat, however, Faiḍī's portrayal of Kṛṣṇa as a deceitful illusionist reflects not only an Islamic discomfort with Vaishnavite theology, but Faiḍī's own performative insecurities as a Hindustani writer of Persian poetry and literary prose. Kṛṣṇa's so-called ‘magic’ lies in large part in his way with words: the verbal and social manipulation he uses to stoke the flames of conflict. The character thus becomes a kind of shadow or double of Faiḍī himself-a demiurgic author of the Mahābhārat upon which the poet can displace the classical Islamicate association of poetry with sorcery and deceit.

在这篇文章中，我讨论了莫卧儿桂冠诗人谢赫·阿布·法伊兹·本·穆巴拉克（Shaikh Abū'l Faiḍ bin Mubarak）对奎师那的诽谤，认为他是一个欺骗性的巫师，或者《法伊蒂》的《摩诃婆罗多》（Mahabharat） ，以及他相应的神化，在《沙里克经》中将其神化为“真神的本质”。maʿrifat，一篇也被认为是 Faiḍī 的论文。正如我所说，这种不一致或矛盾心理是早期现代印度斯坦伊斯兰精英参与宗教多样性和差异的一个常见且被忽视的方面。然而，就《摩诃婆罗多》而言，法伊蒂将奎师那描绘成一个欺骗性的幻术师，这不仅反映了伊斯兰教对外士纳维派神学的不满，而且反映了法伊蒂作为波斯诗歌和文学散文的印度斯坦作家的表演上的不安全感。奎师那所谓的“魔法”在很大程度上在于他的言语方式：他利用言语和社会操纵来煽动冲突的火焰。因此，这个角色成为法伊蒂本人的影子或替身——《摩诃婆罗多》的造物主作者，诗人可以用巫术和欺骗来取代古典伊斯兰诗歌与巫术和欺骗的联系。