Attar of Nishapur, born Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri around 1145 and died around 1221, was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism and hagiographer from Nishapur whose work had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and on Sufism generally, most notably on the later poet Rumi. His best-known work is The Conference of the Birds, an allegorical poem in which the birds of the world undertake a journey led by a hoopoe to find their king, the mythical Simorgh, a quest that becomes a sustained meditation on the Sufi path toward union with the divine. Also a practicing apothecary, which is what his pen name Attar means, he is regarded as one of the most important mystic poets in the history of Persian literature.
Facts
Partially Attested
Birth YearBoth years are approximate (c. 1145 and c. 1221); no exact date is recorded. Death YearTraditional death year is 1221 (infobox gives c. 1221); birth year c. 1145 is approximate and the exact dates are not recorded. Classification
Original Language Connections
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Attar of Nishapur, Wikipedia
Biography
At the age of 78, Attar died a violent death in the massacre which the Mongols inflicted on Nishapur in April 1221.
Infobox
c. 1145 - c. 1221
Original language statement
Attar of Nishapur, born Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri around 1145 and died around 1221, was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism and hagiographer from Nishapur whose work had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and on Sufism generally, most notably on the later poet Rumi.
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