The commemoration day of Attar of Nishabur, northeast of Iran, is an opportunity to take a new look at his life and status in the Iranian literature, IRNA reported from the northeastern Iranian province of Razavi Khorasan on Friday.
Born in a village named Kadkan in the vicinity of Nishabur, the mystic poet was called “Attar” as he was working at herbal and clinic stores. In Persian, Attar means a person that workd with herbs and herbal medicine.
Attar was a forerunner of science of Tariqat or Sufism ’s path as he once was appreciated by mystic Persian poet Molana, better known as Rumi (13th century):
Some say that Attar was killed during invasion of Mongols in Nishabur, but some others tell different stories about his natural death.
Mantiq al Teyr is Attar’s masterpiece which has 7,000 couplets narrated symbolically by birds which are on the path to God.
The hagiographer Attar has written many other precious works, including Tazkirat-ul Auliya.
Sheikh Attar has effectively affected the history of spiritual ideology in Iran and the Iranian culture.
According to provincial officials, about 700,000 domestic and foreign tourists travel to Nishabur annually to visit the tomb of Attar.
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