Mystical doctrines of Farīd-ud-Dīʽn ʽAttār (based on his Mantiq-ut-Tair )

Abstract

The work entitled "Mystical doctrines of Farīd-ud-Dīʽn ʽAttār (based on his Mantiq-ut-Tair), has been written, in order to analyse and explain thoroughly, the sūfīc views of a poet, who was considered to be better than the celebrated Sūfī poet Rūmī. ʽAttār is the nom-de-plume of Sheikh Farīd-ud-Dīn of Nishābūr, a famous district of Khurāsān in Irān, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. and was a renowned practical Sūfī-Saint of his times. Mantiq-ut-Tair is his best composition, representing him as a great Sufi and a first-rate poet of the Persian language; but nevertheless, it has not received the proper attention of the scholars. The extent interpretations of the book are very defective and misguiding. The present work, divided into four main chapters is intended to evaluate the contribution of ʽAttār to the sūfīc literature. In the first chapter, his biography has been gleaned from the original and authentic Persian and Arabic sources along with the poet's own sayings as recorded in his own verses. The second chapter contains a critical account of the origin and development of Sūfīsm upto the time of ʽAttār. In order to show the shape of the movement as found by ʽAttār. Different, standard works on Sūfīsm, in English, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and Hindi, have been consulted In Its preparation. The third chapter comprises a thorough and critical analysis of ʽAttār’s mystical doctrines, in general, as well, as, with special reference to his Mantiq-ut-Tair. In fact, it is a comparative study of ʽAttār, comparing and contrasting his sūfīc conceptions with the parallel ideas in other religions viz., Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism etc. The fourth and the last part of the book is a recapitulation of what has been discussed and explained in the preceding chapters, bringing out the focal points of ʽAttār’s mystical theories and experiences. An exhaustive work on ʽAttār has been conspicuous by its absence. The present volume is a humble effort to fill up that gap.