Farid al-Din Attar

Farid al-Din Attar was a Persian poet and Sufi from Nishapur in Khorasan, in what is now north-eastern Iran. His name means perfumer or apothecary, and he seems to have kept a pharmacy, though his life is poorly documented and much that is told about it is legend, including the story that he was killed when the Mongols sacked Nishapur in 1221. His best-known poem, The Conference of the Birds, tells how the birds of the world set out under the hoopoe's guidance to find the Simorgh, their king. Only thirty survive the seven valleys of the journey, and they find that they themselves are the Simorgh: si morgh means thirty birds in Persian. Attar also wrote the Memorial of the Saints, a collection of lives of early Sufis, and Rumi counted him among his chief influences.

Key ideas

• The soul's journey to God passes through stages: quest, love, knowledge, detachment, unity, bewilderment, and finally poverty and annihilation.
• Each excuse for not setting out is a familiar human attachment, such as love of wealth, comfort, status or one's own learning.
• The divine is not found outside the seeker; at the journey's end the seekers and the one they sought are not two.
• Stories and parables can teach the spiritual life better than abstract argument.

Major works

• The Conference of the Birds (Manṭiq al-Ṭayr, 12th century)
• Ilāhī-nāma (The Book of God, 12th century)
• Asrār-nāma (The Book of Secrets, date uncertain)
• Memorial of the Saints (Tadhkirat al-Awliyāʾ, completed before 1221)

In the Book corner

• The Conference of the Birds c. 1177 · Beginner
  A Persian narrative poem in which the birds of the world gather and resolve to seek a king. The hoopoe, who served…

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