Mantiqut-Tayr (The Speech of Birds)  

Attar Radio Show 

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What follows is the transcript of an interview with Jalād-din Homaee about Attār in an Iranian radio show called “The Boundaries of Knowledge” dating back to 1967 based upon a booklet called “Attār’s Drum & The Flower Meadows’ Breeze”: (Note: The word ‘Irfāni (Gnostic) is used by the Farsi Scholars of Sufism as the spirituality & ideology of Sufism)

As has been agreed today I shall speak—pending there is enough time—about one of the stars of the ‘Irfāni (Gnostic) poetry named Sheikh Attār, because of whom the vast expanse of the Farsi literature is redolent of the fragrance of his poetry & prose.

A while back we talked about the Sa’di’s Gulistān (Flower Garden) in the same show and even before that we talked about Mulawi’s ‘Irfāni (Gnostic) influence in Farsi literature, however I was overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response and acceptance from the audience—above and beyond expectations. Indeed I have no other reward except this audience enthusiasm whereat I was charged with the energy from the audience for today’s show. If I could convey one thousandth of Attār’s substance & stature I would be pleased with such fortune. Since Attār’s ‘definitive’ body of work: Mantiqut-Tayr (The Speech of Birds), Asrār Nāmeh (The Secrets Manifesto) and Musibat Nāmeh (The Afflictions Manifesto) which all three are in Mathnawi form Mokhtār Nāmeh (The Exquisite or Chosen Manifesto) which is in Rubāiyyāt form and finally the Tazkiratol Auliā (Remembering the Auliā (Divine Patricians)) which is a collection of the circumstances of the ‘Orafā (Divine Cognoscenti) one of the highly regarded books of ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis) in simple yet most eloquent Farsi prose form. Moreover there is his versed research indeed a shoreless sea wherein no matter how much readers dive deep snatching the pearls of ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis) yet the bottom not reached.

The reason I used the term ‘definitive’ is because there are about seventy books attributed to Attār e.g. Oshtor Nāmeh (Camel Manifesto), Bulbul Nāmeh (Nightingale Manifesto), Bisar Nāmeh (Headless Manifesto), Haidari Nāmeh (Lion Manifesto), Jawāheroz-Dhāt (The Jewels of Divine Essence), Miftāhol Maftuh (The Key for the Opened), Lisānol Ghayb (The Language of the Unseen), Mazharol ‘Ajāyib (Emergence of The Oddities) and many more which are bunch of blasphemy and crumbling meanings and ill applications of the language specially the silly Headless Manifesto that has been versed to move the headless body of Attār, indeed none are the works of the Sheikh Attār. Mazharol ‘Ajāyib (Emergence of The Oddities) authored by a person calling himself the Attār The Second i.e. the resurrection of the Attār.

Some others such as Qādhi Nurollāh has numbered the works of Attār to 114 as the 114 chapters of the Koran in order to divinify the false works attributed to the great Sheikh.

However, fortunately for both Sheikh Attār and Kahyyām the copycat works are so weak in literary construction that at first browsing one can immediately see their fakeness. Sheikh Attār’s versed collections are few Divāns (poetic collections) in form of Qasida, Rubāiyyāt and Mathnawi—Speech of the Bird the most famous—adding up to around 50,000 verses which The Speech of the Birds by itself suffices announcing him the greatest poet of his time and there is no need to add cornucopia of nonsensical fake works.


Others who are also called Attār

Amongst he past literary figures there are quite a few people called Attār. The person we call as Sheikh Farid-din Mohammad Attār Nishāpuri is the author of Tazkiratol Auliā (Remembering the Auliā (Divine Patricians)) and Mantiqut-Tayr (The Speech of Birds) was born around 540 (HQ) or 1100 (CE) killed at the hands of the Moghuls in Nishāpur. (The slaughter of Nishāpur took place as the barbaric revenge for the murder of Toghjār Gurkān the son in-law of Genghis where even dogs and cats were slaughtered and nothing living survived from this bustling metropolis.)

Some have mistaken Sheikh Attār with the ‘Attār Hamedāni’ namely Hāfez Abul-A’lā Hasan Bin Ahmad Attār the author of the Kashfol Zunun (The Uncovering of The Doubts).

Another person with similar name is the Alā’d-din Mohammad Attār Bukhārāî a Grand Sheikh of Naqshbandi Chain who passed away some 200 years after our Sheikh Attār.

Also there was another person called Abu Nasr As’adi Mohammad Bin Hafdeh Attār Nishāpuri. (We assume he was a PIR old sage of Sufism).

Finally a man called Farided-din Attār Tuni Mash-hadi who lived some 300 or more years after our Sheikh Attār and wrote some of the fake works attributed to Attār as was mentioned earlier.

Attār’s Profession & Akhlāq (Behavior)

The word Attār the official title of the Sheikh of the Speech of the Birds, represents the profession of a medical professional of the time or a pharmacist. Apparently Sheikh Attār not only was a pharmacist practitioner but also studied under the medical experts of his time, so he combined a medical doctor’s profession with that of a pharmacist.

His pharmacy in Nishāpur was also his office for the in-patient visits. Within this office, when he had free time, he versed his epic works. For example Musibat Nāmeh (The Affliction Manifesto) and Elāhi Nāmeh (The Divine Manifesto) according to his own words were started in his office:

Musibat Nāmeh the realm of melancholy
Elāhi Nāmeh the concealed secrets

In pharmacy both of them I started
As one finished the other I started

Five hundred people in pharmacy
Each day their pulse I was taking

Listening midst of all those conversations
Heard none better than these conversations  (poems in his books)

(Source, Attār’s Khosrow Nāmeh (Regal Manifesto))

Attār quoting one of his own friends criticizing him for not writing poems for three years:

You said to me these words of enlightenment
So occupied with the medicine night and day

Medicine is for the ailing bodies of everyone
Yet medicine and wisdom the strength of the life

Three years your lips tightly shut
Ascetic in a corner silent you are

It happens that amongst the Sufi poets there have been many who were medical professionals e.g. Hakim Shifāî (Healer), Hātef Isfahāni and Mirzā Nasred-din Hakim Bāshi. It seems that the profession of medical doctors is more harmonious with that of Sufism and encourages the ‘Irfāni (Divine Gnostic) aspects of a person, as long as the medical doctors are like those of the past who worked in the field to cure and help people for the sake of Allah e.g. Sheikh Attār and not for worldly gains (such as the ones today).

Sheikh Attār deserves the title of Insān Kāmel (Perfected Human Being) and his Soul was the fountain of wisdom, knowledge and ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis). His Soul and body were dedicated for the Creator & the Creation no matter what he did, and worked hard and wrote poetry at the same time. He did not use the poetry as means for publishing to gain fame and fortune and he was not an unemployed lazy Sufi-like. He worked in his medical field to heal the people and extracted what little was necessary to support his expenses. His enchanting poetic pen became an educational force for enlightening the masses due to his amazing exertion of effort and a lofty generous nature.

Sheikh Attār has versed some of his own circumstances:

I place the hard dried bread on the tablecloth
Dipping the pieces in my salty watery eyes

The bread of any lowbred I desired not
This hard bread and this teary stew suffice

Trusting my heart to just anyone I cannot
Relying my honor on just any name I cannot

I have tasted no cruel person’s food
I have authored to publish not one book

My own hard work is my own praise
My body and Soul suffice to serve

To eat from the Sultan is not for I
To be slapped by the guard is not for I
 
                 ***

I have no jewel worthier than the heart
And indeed with Love I left it pawned    (Hakim Sanāî)


Emergence of the Sufi poetry within the Farsi literature

When we study the history of Sufi poetry within the Farsi literature, we see the first occurrence by Hakim Sanāî around 500-600 HQ (1100-1200 CE) then we see Sheikh Attār nurturing it passing it to Rumi whom raised it to the highest of possible perfection. After these three all others were just imitators.


Attār & Rumi

Attār the Soul and Sanāî the eyes
We have come after Sanāî and Attār    (Rumi)

According to the writings of/about Rumi we sense the Sheikh Attār was more of an influence than that of the Sanāî. There are historical references to a meeting between Rumi’s father Bahā’d-din Walad, Rumi and Attār along the path of the migration of Rumi’s family. In this meeting Rumi was given a copy of the Sheik Attār’s work (Asrār Nāmeh (The Secrets Manifesto) as well as Attār’s prediction that Rumi will be a great Sufi poet and humanist.

Attār’s Tariqat

It is known that Sheikh Attār was one of the Morids (Seekers) of the Sheikh Majded-Din Baghdādi a.k.a Baghdādak whom was drowned by the order of Sultan Mohammad Khārazm-Shāh, and Baghdādak was one of the Morids (Seekers) of the Sheikh Najmed-Din Kobrā the head of the Tariqat Chain of Kabrāwieh who was martyred by the Moghuls.

The prose works of the Sheikh Attār is the book called Tazkertol Auliā (Remembering the Auliā (Divine Patricians)) that includes the biography of seventy two of the greats of the Islam and Sheikhs of ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis) and Sufism. It starts with the progeny of Prophet Mohammad i.e. Imām Ja’far Sādeq and ends with the Imām Mohammad Bāqer—pace be upon all of them. No matter how much we try to admire and praise the eloquence and the maturity of this work we fail indeed.

For an example we mentioned a quote from the Bā Yazid Bastāmi from this book:

Kamāl (Perfection) of ‘Āref (Divine Cognoscente) is his burning midst the flames of loving of the Haqq (The Absolute True Reality, The Lord). Whoever is cognizant of the Lord cannot speak of any other subject matter. You can hear the flowing sounds of the rivers but once they reach to the ocean they are silenced: Pouring in or pouring out has nothing to do with diminishing or increasing. Mount the heart and dismount the body. The seeking of knowledge is for the one who traverses the knowledge to the Knower (That Divine All-Knower), but if he seeks the knowledge to ornate his Self to find fame and high rank i.e. traversing the knowledge to find the Creation e.g. people’s approval, each moment he is drawn further away and more abandoned by Hu (IT).

End.




© 2004-2002,  Dara O. Shayda