Attar, Farid Al-Din Muhammad ben Ibrahim

Born circa 1119; year of death unknown. Persian-Tajik poet and mystic. Asserted the concepts of Dervish and Sufi moral philosophy in his poetry.

Attar, a highly educated man, collected in his works a wealth of interesting tales drawn from oriental folklore. His chief work was the narrative poem Language of the Birds (written c. 1175), which reflects the influence of al-Ghazzali’s Treatise on the Birds. One of the major literary monuments of Sufism, the poem enjoyed enormous popularity and inspired many poets, including Navoi. Attar was also the author of Mukhtar-Náme, Book of Exhortation, Book of Ascent, the anthology Biography of the Sheikhs, and other works.