Iran Press/Iran News: Farid al-Din Attar also called Farid al-Din Abu Hamid Muhammad (c. 1145-1221), was one of the greatest mystical thinkers who left an immense and ceaseless influence on Persian poetry.
Iran's history, culture, and literature are intertwined by the names of numerous great figures and intellectuals who have made a major contribution to the civilization of Iran with an effective role in creating a civilization of the entire international community.
Ab? ?am?d bin Ab? Bakr Ibr?h?m (c. 1145 – c. 1221) better known by his pen-names Far?d ud-D?n and ?A???r, was a Persian poet, theoretician of mysticism, and hagiographer from Neishabour who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and mysticism. Man?iq-u?-?ayr [The Conference of the Birds] and Il?h?-N?ma [The Book of Divine] are among his most famous works.
His name, ‘Attar’, which literally means a perfumer or apothecary, may indicate that he, his father, or his grandfather was involved in that trade. Attar composed brilliant couplets and prose, the greatest of which is his masterpiece ‘Mantiq al-Tayr’ (The Conference of the Birds).
Attar was a 12-century poet in the northeastern ancient city of Neishabour (or Nishabur), currently a city in the Iranian Province of Khorasan-e Razavi. His mausoleum has rendered beauty to the city with the turquoise tomb, a tourist attraction in Iran.
Attar (Apothecarist) was also a renowned figure in medicine and pharmaceuticals of his time; that's the reason of appellation. But he is now known for his literary works, on top of which is Manteq al-Tayr, or The Conference of the Birds. The book is a long epic poem that symbolized birds of various kinds each as human moral behaviors. Throughout the story, Attar has highlighted ethical lessons via metaphors and other literary techniques and figures of speech.
The poet’s other significant works include ‘Asrar Nameh’ (Book of Secrets), ‘Elahi Nameh’(Book of God) and ‘Mosibat Nameh’ (Book of Affliction), both of which are mystical allegories similar in structure and form to ‘Manteq al-Tayr’; ‘Divan’ (Collected Poems); and the famous prose work ‘Tadhkerat al-Olia’, an invaluable source of information on the early mysticism.
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