he was born in 1689 A.D (1102 A.H) at village "Hala Havelli" district Hyderabad, Sindh (Pakistan). Shah Abdul Latif’s lineage has been traced back directly to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) through Imam Zain-ul-Abdeen, son of Imam Hussain. His father's name was Syed Habib Shah. Shah Latif’s early education did not exceed what the village school curriculum could provide. His first teacher was Noor Muhammad Bhatti Wai Wala. He also learned Quran, Hadith, and Arabic as well as Persian.

Shah Latif's father professionally was a physician. Shah Latif also learned that knowledge from his father. Once the daughter of Mughal Baig, who was the landlord in the village of Hala, fell ill. The landlord asked Shah Latif to visit his home for his daughter's check-up. It was the tradition in Sindh, that the females were prohibited to make her appearance before any outsider male, and also it is the tradition in most of the Muslim countries till today. So Shah Latif sat behind the curtain, and on the other side of the curtian, the landlord's daughter sat & only showed her hand to Shah Latif, to let him feel her pulse. Shah Latif was thrown into ecstasy after holding her hand, that confused the girl, who pulled back her hand. But Shah Latif sat there in the state of ecstasy.

After knowing about that incident, the landlord turned against Shah Latif's family, and tried his best to harras them, so that they would leave the village of Hala. Shah Latif was still in Jazb (ecstasy), and was wandering in the desert regularly, and his father had to take him back to home. Once Shah Latif left home, and for three years he didn't come back. In the quest of eternal love, he travelled in many parts of Sindh and also went to the border lands. He kept himself all of from the political scene of favoritism and intrigues which was going on at the rise of the Kalhoras to power during this time, though he was much respected by some of the members of this dynasty and could have benefited by it. He did not visit towns or cities but went to hills and valleys where he met Sufis and Yogis, most of the latter being Hindus in whose company he wandered disguised, going to the Ganjo Hills in the south of Hyderabad and to the mountains in Las Bela on the border of Sindh and Balochistan. He was in the company of these Sanyasis for three years and went with them to Hinglaj, Lakhpat, Nani at the foot of the Himalayas and to Sappar Sakhi.

Finally he arrived in Thatta city of Sindh, where he met a Sufi, whose name was Makhdoom Mohammad Moin. That Sufi understood the inner condition of Shah Latif, and held him there for few days. That Sufi told Shah Latif: "The truth, for which you are wandering around, is inside of yourself. A man is a mirror for a man. You've seen God's manifestation in the hand of that girl." After few days living with that Sufi, Shah Latif felt inner satisfaction, and then he left for Hala.

When Shah Latif reached in Hala village, he found that some people had killed all males of landlord's family, and looted all the money & valuables, which they had. The females of the landlord's family thought that, because the landlord harrassed Shah Latif's family, that's why God punished them. So they came to Shah Latif's father & aplogized. Shah Latif's father took all of them into his guardianship, and married landlord's daughter to his son Shah Latif in 1713 A.D. Because Shah Latif now understood the truth that caused a great change in his life, so he didn't take much interest in her wife.

He had a serious and thoughtful look about himself and spent much time in contemplation and mediation, since he was concerned about his moral and spiritual evolution with the sole purpose of seeking proximity of the Divine. He would often seek solitude and contemplate on the issues that chiefly concern man’s spiritual life, the purpose of his being on this earth and his ultimate destiny.

He lived a very simple life of self-restraint. His food was simple and frugal, so was his dress which was often of deep yellow, the color of the dress of Sufis or Yogis, stitched with a black thread. Till this day, his relics are preserved at Bhitshah, some of which include a walking stick, two bowls, one made of sandal wood and another of transparent stone, which he used for eating and drinking. His long cap and his black turban are also preserved.

In the true ascetic spirit, Shah Abdul Latif was now in search of a place where in solitude, he could devote all his time in prayers and mediation. Such a place he found near Karar Lake, a mere sand hill, four miles away from new Hala, which was covered with thorny bushes surrounded by many pools of water. It was called Bhit (Sand Hill) and on this heap of sand stones, he decided to built a village. As it was sandy, he along with his disciples dug out hard earth from a distance and covered the sand with it to make the ground firm. After months of labor, carrying the earth on their heads and shoulders, it was fit enough for the construction of an underground room and two rooms over it, alongwith a room for his parents. A mosque was also built and the houses of the disciples marked out, which did not take much time to be built. In 1742 A.D, while he was still busy in the work of setting up Bhit, he got the sad news of the death of his father. Soon after this Shah Abdul Latif shifted all his family members from Kotri to Bhitshah as the village now began to be called. His father had already been buried there according to his will, where his mausoleum stands, only eight paces away from that of Shah Abdul Latif’s towards its north.

For the last eight years of his life, he lived at Bhitshah. A few days before his death, he retired to his underground room and spent all his time in prayers and fasting, eating very little, after 21 days, he came out and having bathed himself with a large quantity of water, covered himself with a white sheet and asked his disciples to start the mystic music. This went on for three days, continuously, when the musicians concerned about the motionless poet, found that his soul had already left for its heavenly abode to be in the proximity of the Beloved for whom he had longed for, all his life and only the body was there on 14th Safar, 1165 Hijra corresponding to 1752 A.D. he suffered no sickness, neither had he any kind of pain. He was buried at the place where his mausoleum now stands.

• Sufi is not limited by religious bounds
  He discloses not the war he wages in his mind
  Helps and assists those who with him fight.