Who Was Attar?

Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahim (1145 – 1221), more commonly known by his pennames Farid-ud-Din and Attar of Nishapur, was a Persian poet and Sufi mystic who significantly influenced Persian poetry and Sufism.

Not much is known about Attar, and much of his life has been reduced to myths and legends. But in this biography, we explore what we know about Attar's upbringing, profession, and quest for ultimate spiritual wisdom--a journey that inspired him to leave his comfortable life behind in pursuit of real knowledge.

His journey eventually led him to becoming a prominent hagiographer, poet, and contributor to Sufi thought, especially through his masterpiece "The Conference of the Birds." This epic spiritual poem contains thousands of verses that narrate the story of personified birds ("humans") who, with the guidance of the hoopoe bird ("spiritual master"), go on a quest in search of the legendary Simurgh bird ("God").

The birds through seven "valleys," or stages in their spiritual journey, overcoming many personal obstacles along the way. Of the 200 birds that start the journey, only 30 end up annihilating their ego to reach the home of the Simurgh. When they arrive, however, they learn that the Simurgh is "not there," and that they, in fact, are the Simurgh themselves, with the words "Si" and "Murgh" meaning "30" and "birds" in Farsi, respectively, demonstrating the Divine within all of us.

Though not relatively famous in his own time, Attar's popularity grew over the centuries and he is said to have made an indelible impression on an even more famous Sufi poet and mystic: Rumi.

Some sources say that the young Rumi, born when Attar was well in his 60s, actually met the elder mystic on his way to Konya, Turkey with his family, and was given one of his books, the Asrar Nama (Farsi: "the Book of Secrets"), which shaped Rumi's own outlook on life, and later, his poetry.

Rumi even mentions in one of his poems:

"Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love, while we have barely turned down the first street."

#attar #rumi #mysticism

---

This video is part of a longer video from Episode 2 of my spiritual podcast and YouTube series, The Voice of Love: Mystic Poetry for the Yearning Soul:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOug4PfN9XA

If you liked this video or the podcast/video series in general, please don't forget to share and subscribe to my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM_mzgPe1cIqydBzRZ8IkPw

---

Website: https://najimmostamand.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najimmostamand/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/najimmostamand1/