Shaikh Mubarak's first son, the poet Abu'l Faizi and his second son Abu'l Fazl were born in Agra. Abul Fazl's education began with Arabic and by the age of five he could read and write. His father started teaching him about all the branches of Islamic sciences ("manqulat") but Fazl could not adhere to conventional learning and he sank in a state of mental depression. A friend rescued him from this state and he resumed his studies. Some incidents from his early life reflect on his brilliance. A dictionary of Ishafani, which had been eaten by white ants came under his observation. He removed the parts that had been eaten and joined blank paper to the rest. He discovered the beginning and end of each fragment and eventually penned a draft text. Subsequently, the entire work was discovered and on comparison to Fazl's draft the original differed in only two or three places.