Samuel L. Lewis – known among his disciples as Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, or Murshid “S.A.M.” – was an American Master of Sufi and Zen mystical traditions through whom a living stream of the Chishti-Inayati Sufi lineage poured forth to the hippies of the 1960’s and 1970’s in America. This branch of the Chishti-Inayati Sufi lineage has flourished in the years since, thriving as the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

Murshid Sam was a longtime disciple and Khalif (representative) of Murshida Rabia Martin, the first teacher initiated by Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. He personally received Inayat Khan’s blessings in six interviews with the Pir-o-Murshid during his post-WWI teaching tours in 1920’s America. Later in life, Murshid Sam wrote prolific, inspired commentaries on the works of Hazrat Inayat Khan, composed extensive mystical poetry, manifested the Dances of Universal Peace, created the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society – now known as the Sufi Ruhaniat International – and passed an inspiring transmission of blessing and wisdom to the thousands who follow his open heart along the Chishti-Inayati Sufi path.

A more extensive overview of Murshid Sam’s life, written by his disciple Murshid Wali Ali, can be found here.