User:HistoryofIran/Attar of Nishapur

Attar (1145/46 – 1221) was a Persian poet, mystic and hagiographer, who is considered a central figure in Sufism. He played a key-role in combining love-based Sufism with the Persian poetic practice, which would later be expressed by famous figures such as Rumi (died 1273) and Hafez (died 1390).

Attar was born in the city of Nishapur in the Khurasan province.

Life
Attar was born in the northern Iranian city of Nishapur in 1145 or 1146. The city was amongst the four great cities of the province of Khurasan, flourishing until the Mongol invasion in 1221. Little is known about Attar's life. Nothing is known about his education, his teachers or his students. He was born with the name Muhammad, but was usually referred to as Farid al-Din and Farid al-Din Attar. "Attar" was a title linked to his profession as a herbalist. The writings of Attar attest to his proficiency in theoretical mysticism, literary arts, gnomic poetry, philosophy, theology, interpretation of the Quran, hadith, law, medicine, and astrology—in other words, the majority of the methodical and traditional sciences. Attar provides personal portrayals of his parents, an usual act before modern times. He praises his mother as a "woman of spiritual truth" whose breath had "healing properties" and whose "sincere exhale at the time of dawn prayer found its way to God."

Some scholars such as Qazi Nurullah Shustari considered Attar to be an adherant of Shia Islam due to the latters verses of honouring Ali. The Czech orientalist Jan Rypka argued that Attar received a Shia education. He had based his argumentation on some writings attributed to Attar, which Iranian historian Asghar Daadbeh deems "inauthentic". The latter adds that "Attar was certainly a Sunni", as demonstrated by the introduction of his mathnawis which honours the Rashidun caliphs in a devoted manner. The Iranologist Edward Granville Browne likewise considered Attar to be Sunni, due to the latters praise of the first two Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr ((r. 632 – 634)) and Umar ((r. 634 – 644)).

According to Annemarie Schimmel, the tendency among Shia authors to include leading mystical poets such as Rumi and Attar among their own ranks, became stronger after the introduction of Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion of Safavid Iran in 1501.

Attar was amongst the people who were massacred during the Mongol attack on Nishapur, in April 1221.

Teachings
Attar's ties with Sufism has been the subject of debate.

Legacy and assessment
Attar is considered a central figure in Sufism. He played a key-role in combining love-based Sufism with the Persian poetic practice, which would later be expressed by famous figures such as Rumi (died 1273) and Hafez (died 1390).