 Unsettled political conditions in Iran and Iraq helped to persuade Ayatullah Puya to migrate from al-Najaf to India in 1343/1925.He settled down in Madras and Bangalore, where he gained the chance to study modern western thought directly in English, so that he became equipped to evaluate the diverse intellectual trends of both east and west.In Madras also he encountered Mir Ahmad Ali, who produced the first substantial Shi`i commentary on the Qur'an in English and who incorporated Ayatullah Puya's illuminating philosophical notes on the verses of the Qur'an into his work.