o FARID EL-DIN ATTAR’S LIFE AND WORKS

 8arid ad-Din Attar

`Attar's statue beside his mausoleum, Nishapur, Iran

Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (1120 - c. 1229), much better
known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn(Persian: ‫)فریدالدین‬
and ‘Attār (Persian: ‫"—عطار‬the pharmacist"), was
a Persian and Muslim poet, Sufi, theoretician of mysticism, and
hagiographer. Comparatively few details are known for certain
about his life. He spent several years traveling and studying at
some of the leading schools in the Muslim world at the time
before returning home. `Attar supported his writing by
practicing as a physician or druggist; he was not interested in
attracting a patron. `Attar's work preserves many of the sayings
of previous Sufi saints; we are indebted to him for information
about their lives. On the one hand, historical data is scanty in his
writing. On the other, his aim was not to write conventional
biography but through the lives of the saints to encourage people
to renounce worldly ambition for love of God, love
of humanity and selfless service.
Contents

 1 Biography
o 1.1 Life

o 1.2 Death

 2 Teachings
 3 Poetry
 4 Works
o 4.1 Manteq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds)

 4.1.1 `Attar's Seven Valleys of Love

 4.1.2 Tadhkirat al-awliya (The Memorial of the

Saints)
o 4.2 Influence on Rumi

 5 Legacy
 6 Notes
 7 References
 8 External links
 9 Credits
His most famous work, The Conference of the Birds, rejoices in
the loss of egotism and the realization that all people are equally
loved by God. This work has been compared with Geoffrey
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and with his Parliament of
Fowls. `Attar challenges humans to abandon all "us and them
polarities," such as those of race, religion, and social class. He
affirms human solidarity. His poetry expounds the teachings of
Islamic mysticism in universal language, inviting one to live for
the sake of others, to prize what has eternal, not ephemeral
values.
Biography
Information about `Attar's life is rare. He is mentioned by only
two of his contemporaries, `Awfi and Khadja Nasir ud-Din Tusi.
However, all sources confirm that he was from Nishapur, a
major city of medieval Khorasan (now located in the northeast
of Iran), and according to `Awfi, he was a poet of the Seljuq
period. Davis cites 1120 as his possible birth date, commenting
that sources indicate a date between 1120 and 1157.[1] It seems
that he was not well known as a poet in his own lifetime, except
at his home town, and his greatness as a mystic, a poet, and a
master of narrative was not discovered until the fifteenth
century.
Life

`Attar's mausoleum in Nishapur, Iran.

`Attar was probably the son of a prosperous chemist, receiving
an excellent education in various fields. He is said to have
attended "the theological school attached to the shrine of Imam
Reza at Mashhad."[1]While his works say little else about his
life, they suggest that he practiced the profession of pharmacy
and personally attended to a very large number of customers.
The people he helped in the pharmacy used to confide their
troubles in `Attar, which affected him deeply. Eventually, he
abandoned his pharmacy store and traveled widely—to
Kufa, Mecca, Damascus, Turkistan, and India, meeting with
Sufi Shaykhs—then returned, promoting Sufi ideas. Such travel
in search of knowledge was not uncommon for Sufi practitioners
at the time.
On the one hand, `Attar is renowned as a Sufi thinker and writer,
on the other hand his exact relationship with any Sufi teacher or
order is vague. It is not known for certain which Sufi master
instructed him. Possibly, his teacher was Majd ad-Din al-
Baghdadi (d. 1219) although Baghdadi may have taught him
medicine not theology. A tradition "first mentioned by Rumi has
it that he "had no teacher and was instructed in the Way by the
spirit of Mansur al-Hallaj, the Sufi martyr who had been
executed in Baghdad in 922 and who appeared to him in a
dream." Or, he may have joined a Sufi order then received a
"confirmatory dream in which Hallaj appeared to him."
Darbandi and Davis suggest that reference to the spirit of Hallaj
may be a "dramatic symbol of his scholarly pre-occupation with
the lives of dead saints."[2]
It can, though, be taken for granted that from childhood onward
`Attar, encouraged by his father, was interested in the Sufis and
their sayings and way of life, and regarded their saints as his
spiritual guides. `Attar "boasted that he had never sought a
king's favor or stooped to writing a panegyric" which "alone
would make him worthy of note among Persian poets." He
appears to have regarded rulers as "capricious and cruel"
suggesting that "it is best to have nothing to do with
them."[3] This attitude may have been due to an ascetic tendency;
love of wealth, power and fame have no place in his worldview.
He narrates many stories suggesting that material wealth is often
irreconcilable with spiritual health. "If all the world is yours" he
wrote, "it will pass by as swiftly as the blinking of an
eye."[4] Attar probably supported himself from his work as a
chemist or physician. `Attar means herbalist, druggist and
perfumist, and during his lifetime in Persia, much of medicine
and drugs were based on herbs. He says that he "composed his
poems in his daru-khane" which means "a chemist's shop or
drug-store, but which has suggestions of a dispensary or even a
doctor's surgery." It is probable that he "combined the selling of
drugs and perfumes with the practice of medicine."[1]
Death
`Attar reached an age of over 70 (some sources mention 110)
and died a violent death in the massacre which
the Mongols inflicted on Nishabur in April 1229 although
possible death dates range from 1193 to 1235.[5] His mausoleum,
built by Ali-Shir Nava'i in the sixteenth century, is located in
Nishapur.
Like many aspects of his life, his death, too, is blended with
legends and speculation. A well-known story regarding his death
goes as follows:
During the invasion of Persia by Jenghis Khan (1229 C.E.) when
`Attar had reached the age of 110, he was taken prisoner by the
Mongols. One of them was about to kill him, when another said
"let the old man live; I will give a thousand pieces of silver as
his ransom. His captor was about to close with the bargain, but
`Attar said, "Don't sell me as cheaply; you will find someone
willing to give more." Subsequently, another man came up and
offered a bag of straw for him. "Sell me to him," said `Attar, "for
that is all I am worth." The Mongol, irritated at the loss of the
first offer, slew him, who thus found the death he desired.[6]
Teachings
The thought-world depicted in `Attar's works reflects the whole
evolution of the Sufi movement. The starting point is the idea
that the body-bound soul's awaited release and return to its
source in the other world can be experienced during the present
life in mystic union attainable through inward purification. By
explaining his thoughts, the material uses is not only from
specifically Sufi but also from older ascetic legacies. Although
his heroes are for the most part Sufis and ascetics, he also
introduces stories from historical chronicles, collections of
anecdotes, and all types of high-esteemed literature. His talent
for perception of deeper meanings behind outward appearances
enables him to turn details of everyday life into illustrations of
his thoughts. The idiosyncrasy of `Attar's presentations
invalidates his works as sources for study of the historical
persons whom he introduces. As sources on the hagiology
and phenomenology of Sufism, however, his works have
immense value.
Judging from `Attar's writings, he viewed philosophy with
skepticism and dislike. He wrote, "No one is farther from the
Arabian prophet than the philosopher. Know that
philosophy (falsafa) is the wont and way of Zoroaster, for
philosophy is to turn your back on all religious
law."[7] Interestingly, he did not want to uncover the secrets
of nature. This is particularly remarkable in the case of
medicine, which fell within the scope of his profession. He
obviously had no motive for showing off his secular knowledge
in the manner customary among court panegyrists, whose type
of poetry he despised and never practiced. Such knowledge is
only brought into his works in contexts where the theme of a
story touches on a branch of natural science.
Poetry
`Attar speaks of his own poetry in various contexts including the
epilogues of his long narrative poems. He confirms the guess
likely to be made by every reader that he possessed an
inexhaustible fund of thematic and verbal inspiration. He writes
that when he composed his poems, more ideas came into his
mind than he could possibly use.
Like his contemporary Khaqani, `Attar was not only convinced
that his poetry had far surpassed all previous poetry, but that it
was to be intrinsically unsurpassable at any time in the future,
seeing himself as the “seal of the poets” and his poetry as the
“seal of speech.”[8]Since he had "expressed all poetic thought,"
he asked, "what still remains for others?"[9] Incidentally, he
wrote of Muhammad's appreciation of poetry, which somewhat
contradicts the stereotype that Muhammad did not like poets;
"God," said the Prophet, "possesses many treasures that are
hidden under the tongues of poets."[10] What Muhammad
objected to was the charge that the Qur'an was a poem
composed by himself.
Works
Statue of the German orientalist Hellmut Ritter beside `Attar's
mausoleum. It was made by order of Goethe and Hafez fans
in Germany.
The question whether all the works that have been ascribed to
him are really from his pen, has not been solved. This is due to
two facts that have been observed in his works:
1. There are considerable differences of style among these
works.
2. Some of them indicate a Sunni, and others a Shi'a,
allegiance of the author.
Classification of the various works by these two criteria yields
virtually identical results. The German orientalist Hellmut Ritter
at first thought that the problem could be explained by a spiritual
evolution of the poet. He distinguished three phases of `Attar's
creativity:
1. Works in which mysticism is in perfect balance with a
finished, story-teller's art.
2. Works in which a pantheistic zeal gains the upper hand
over literary interest.
3. Works in which the aging poet idolizes Imam Ali ibn Abu
Talib while there is no trace of ordered thoughts and
descriptive skills.[11]
Phrase three may be coincidental with a conversion to Shi'a
Islam. However, in 1941, the Persian scholar Nafisi was able to
prove that the works of the third phase in Ritter's classification
were written by another `Attar who lived about two hundred and
fifty years later at Mashhad and was a native of Tun. Ritter
accepted this finding in the main, but doubted whether Nafisi
was right in attributing the works of the second group also to
this `Attar of Tun. One of Ritter's arguments is that the principal
figure in the second group is not Ali, as in the third group, but
Hallaj, and that there is nothing in the explicit content of the
second group to indicate a Shi'a allegiance of the author.
Another is the important chronological point that a manuscript
of the Jawhar al-Dāt, the chief work in the second group, bears
the date 735 A.H. (= 1334-35 C.E.). While `Attar of Tun's
authorship of the second group is untenable, Nafisi was probably
right in concluding that the style difference (already observed by
Ritter) between the works in the first group and those in the
second group is too great to be explained by a spiritual evolution
of the author. The authorship of the second group remains an
unsolved problem.[12]

“Manteq al-Ṭayr” (“The Conference of the Birds”)

He appears to have destroyed some of his own writing.
His authentic works are taken as:
 Asrar Nameh (Book of Secrets) about Sufi ideas. This is the

work that the aged Shaykh gave Maulana Jalal ad-Din Rumi
 when Rumi's family stayed over at Nishapur on its way to
Konya, Turkey.
 Elahi Nameh (Divine Book), about zuhd or asceticism. In
this book `Attar framed his mystical teachings in various
stories that a caliph tells his six sons, who are kings
themselves and seek worldly pleasures and power. The book
also contains praises of Sunni Islam's four Rightly Guided
Caliphs.
 Manteq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds) in which he
makes extensive use of Al-Ghazali's Risala on Birds as well
as a treatise by the Ikhvan al-Safa (the Brothers of Serenity)
on the same topic.
 Tadhkirat al-Auliya (The Memorial of the Saints). In this
famous book, `Attar recounts the life stories of famous
Muslim saints, among them the four Imams of Sunni
jurisprudence, from the early period of Islam. He also
praises Imam Jafar Assadiq and Imam Baghir as two Imams
of the Shai Muslims.
Manteq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds)
Led by the hoopoe (in the Qur'an, the hoopoe acts as messenger
between Solomon, who could communicate with birds, and the
Queen of Sheba)[13] the birds of the world set forth in search of
their king, Simurgh. Their quest takes them through seven
valleys in the first of which a hundred difficulties assail them.
They undergo many trials as they try to free themselves of what
is precious to them and change their state. Once successful and
filled with longing, they ask for wine to dull the effects
of dogma, belief, and unbelief on their lives. In the second
valley, the birds give up reason for love and, with a thousand
hearts to sacrifice, continue their quest for discovering the
Simurgh. The third valley confounds the birds, especially when
they discover that their worldly knowledge has become
completely useless and their understanding has become
ambivalent. There are different ways of crossing this Valley, and
all birds do not fly alike. Understanding can be arrived at
variously—some have found the Mihrab, others the idol. The
narrative is organized around the birds' objections to the journey
and the hoopoes' responses. Each section begins with a question,
followed by the response which usually included several stories.
Although at first sight these may seem obscure, this is because
logic is being "deliberately flouted so that we are, as it were,
teased or goaded … into understanding."[14]
The fourth valley is introduced as the valley of detachment, that
is, detachment from desire to possess and the wish to discover.
The birds begin to feel that they have become part of a universe
that is detached from their physical recognizable reality. In their
new world, the planets are as minute as sparks of dust
and elephants are not distinguishable from ants. It is not until
they enter the fifth valley that they realize that unity and
multiplicity are the same. And as they have become entities in
a vacuum with no sense of eternity. More importantly, they
realize that God is beyond unity, multiplicity, and eternity.
Stepping into the sixth valley, the birds become astonished at the
beauty of the Beloved. Experiencing extreme sadness and
dejection, they feel that they know nothing, understand nothing.
They are not even aware of themselves. Only thirty birds reach
the abode of the Simurgh. But there is no Simurgh anywhere to
see. Simurgh's chamberlain keeps them waiting for Simurgh
long enough for the birds to figure out that they themselves are
the si (thirty) murgh (bird). The seventh valley is the valley of
deprivation, forgetfulness, dumbness, deafness, and death. The
present and future lives of the thirty successful birds become
shadows chased by the celestial Sun. And themselves, lost in the
Sea of His existence, are the Simurgh.
Darbandi and Davis highlight similarities between Manteq al-
Tayr and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales[15] as well as
his Parliament of Fowls.[16] For example, "multi-layered
allegory" combined with "structure" lead us "from a crowded,
random-world, described with a great poet's relish for language
and observation, to the ineffable realm of the Absolute."[17] Use
of a journey, or pilgrimage and of story is, they remark, close in
both "tone and technique" to "medieval European classics."
`Attar's Seven Valleys of Love
 The Valley of Quest

 The Valley of Love

 The Valley of Understanding

 The Valley of Independence and Detachment

 The Valley of Unity

 The Valley of Astonishment and Bewilderment

 The Valley of Deprivation and Death

Each valley can be understood as one of the seven heavens; as

we journey into our own souls, we also journey through the
heavens into the divine presence because at the center of our
soul lies the divine itself.
Tadhkirat al-awliya (The Memorial of the Saints)
`Attar's only known prose work which he worked on throughout
much of his life and which was available publicly before his
death, is a biography of Muslim saints and mystics. In what is
considered the most compelling entry in this book, `Attar relates
the story of the execution of Hallaj, the mystic who had uttered
the words “I am the Truth” in a state of ecstatic
contemplation.[18] The book is also a major source of
information on Islam's premier woman Sufi, Rabia Basri.[19] of
whom `Attar said that if it "proper to derive two-thirds of our
religion from A'esha" (citing a saying of Muhammad "surely it
is permissible to take religious instruction from a handmaid of
Allah."[20]`Attar wanted to make the saying of the masters
available in Persian and to revive their memory.[21]
Influence on Rumi
`Attar is one of the most famous mystic poets of Iran. His works
were the inspiration of Rumi and many other mystic poets.
`Attar, along with Sanai were two of the greatest influences
on Rumi in his Sufi views. Rumi has mentioned both of them
with the highest esteem several times in his poetry. Rumi praises
`Attar: "Attar roamed the seven cities of love—We are still just
in one alley".[22]
"Attar was the spirit, and Sanai its two eyes. We come after
Sanai and Attar."[23]
Rumi is said to have met Attar during his childhood, who gave
him a copy of Asrar Nameh and "dandled him on his knee."[2]
Legacy
Arberry describes `Attar as a "literary genius" among "the
greatest poets of Persia."[24] The most detailed study of `Attar is
Ritter's The Ocean of the Soul, which translator John O'Kane
describes as "not only the definitive work on `Attar" but "the
greatest interpretive study of any literary figure in
Islamic civilization."[25]
One of the attractions of `Attar's writing is the comparative
simplicity of his metaphor, which he uses quite sparingly; he
writes to enlighten not to confuse. Darbandi and Davis comment
that while in common with other Persian poets he uses
hyperbole, on the other hand "most of his metaphors are stock
comparisons."[26] The Conference of the Birds remains one of
the most popular works of the imagination in Persian. Although
imbued with Sufi doctrine and in many respects an exposition of
the Sufi path, the Conference's message speaks across faith-
divides and can be appreciated by any reader who is interested
in destroying their ego and in serving humanity. Of all Sufi
themes, two are central to this work; "destroying the self" and
"love." The latter, for `Attar, leads to the former. Most examples
of this fly "in the face of either social or sexual or religious
convention." This could be love between people from different
social classes, religions and even between people of the same
sex.[27] One story tells of a Muslim who is put to shame by an
infidel; the former's "false piety" was worth less than the latter's
"loyalty."[28] When people genuinely love another, they place
their happiness before one's own. People sacrifice personal
advantage for their sake; serving others, too, results from loving
others more than ourselves. "We seek," he wrote, "the way of
perfect unity, where no one counts his own prosperity"[29]
Fatima Mernissi, the prominent Muslim feminist scholar and
human rights activist, describes `Attar as her "favorite of the
Sufis." She champions the Conference as an invitation to
embrace the Other, whatever their faith or culture as equally
human; "Attar sang," she writes, "of that Sufi Islam that is
totally unknown to the Western media." This type of
imagination "will probably be the only successful challenger to
the electronic agenda, for it offers something the latter can never
threaten or replace; the spirituality that gives wings, opening you
up to the other like a flower."[30]