About Farid ud-Din Attar

Farid ud-Din Attar, accounted as one of the greatest poets of Persia, was born around 1120 A.D. in Nishapur (also the birth place of Omar Khayyam) in North Eastern Iran. His name, Attar, indicates a perfume seller or druggist. Most of what is known about him is legendary, even his death at the hands of Mongol invaders in the early part of the thirteenth century. According to Dawlatshah, Attar was at the door of his shop one day when a dervish came by and looked in, smelt the sweet perfumes, then heaved a sigh and wept. Attar thought he was trying to arouse a pity and asked him to leave. The dervish said, "Yes, there is nothing to prevent my leaving your door and saying goodbye to this world. All I have is my worn-out cloak. But I grieve for you, Attar. How can you ever turn your mind to death and renounce all your worldly goods?" Attar replied that he hoped to end his life in poverty and contentment as a dervish. "We shall see," said the dervish and therupon lay down and died. This made such an impression on Attar that he left his shop and became a pupil of the famous shaikh Bukh-ud-din and began to study the Sufi system of ideas. He later travelled to Rey (near Tehran), Egypt, Damascus, Mecca, Turkestan (southern Russia) and India. He collected the writings of devout Sufis, together with legends and stories on his travels. He then returned to Nishapur where he settled and kept his dharu-khane (a word in Persian meaning perfume or drug store) and it was here that he wrote his poems. There is some evidence that he was tried for heresy later in his life. The charge was upheld and Attar was banished and his property was looted. E.G. Browne (A Literary History of Persia, 1906) points out that this was not an uncommon fate for Persian mystic poets to endure. The Conference of the Birds contains many anecdotes about Sufis who suffered for their beliefs. However, Attar had returned to Nishapur at the time of his death, which is supposed to have occurred shortly before 1220. His other chief works are Memorial of the Saints, The Book of the Divine, The Book of Affliction and The Book of Secrets.