Attar Neishaburi
Farid Al-Din Abu Hāmed Mohammad Attar Neishaburi, known as Sheikh 'Attar Neishaburi, born in 1145 in the village of Neishabur, is one of the most celebrated Iranian mystics and poets in Persian literature.
He learned the pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacology from his father and dedicated himself to the work of the apothecary and to the care of the sick. Many stories have been told about his renunciation of worldly goods and his decision to undertake the path of asceticism, isolation and piety.
Among the famous works of 'Attār you can mention the following: "Mokhtār nāme" (large collection of quatrains) "Musibat nāme" or "Book of adversity", "Elāhi nāme" or "The celestial poem", "Asrār nāme" or "Book of secrets", "Mantiq al-tayr" or "the verb of birds", "Divān-e ghazalyāt va qasāid" or Canzoniere of ghazal and qaside "and" Tadhkirāt al Āwliyā "or" Memorial of the intimates of Allah "( translated also with Sufi words ").
During the attack of the Mongols all his works were burned and there remain only those that before the Mongol attack were brought to other cities. According to some scholars of Moulavi, the works of 'Attār have been important sources for the compilation of the Masnavi of Moulavi and he himself in a point of the "Divān-e Kabir" hinted at this fact.
The 25 day of the month of Farvardin in the Iranian calendar is the national day of 'Attār that every year takes place in Neishabur, near his mausoleum with initiatives aimed at making this poet known; the place is filled with flowers, researches are presented on him, also exhibitions of books and calligraphy and the evening of poetry, are among the initiatives that take place on this day.
The works of 'Attār have been translated into various languages and books have been published concerning him in Iran and in the world; he is among the Persian poets whose works were well received in Italy; in fact, five of them have been translated into Italian: "The book of secrets", "The verb of birds", "The celestial poem", "The memorial of the intimates of Allah" and "The book of adversity". Some of the works that can be referred to in Italy are the following:
A. Pagliaro-A. Bausani, Persian literature, Sansoni-Accademia, Florence-Milan 1968
AM Piemontese, History of Persian Literature, 2 Vol., Fabbri Brothers, Milan 1970
C. Saccone, Thematic history of classical Persian literature vol. I: Travels and visions of king Sufi prophets, Luni, Milan-Trento 1999; vol. II: The Sufi teacher and the beautiful Christian. Poetics of perversion in medieval Persia, Carocci, Rome 2005; vol. III: The king of the beautiful, the king of the world. Theology of power and beauty in medieval Persian poetry, Aracne, Rome 2014
Articles and contributions in Italian on 'Attar can be found in:
AA. VV., Italian-Iranian Colloquium on the mystical poet Fariduddin 'Attar, Ed. National Academy of the Lincei, Rome 1978
A. Bausani, The sacred madman in Islam, Luni, Milan-Trento 2000
H. Ritter, The sea of the soul. Man, world and God in Fariduddin 'Attar, Milan, Ariele, 2004
C. Saccone, Travels and visions of king Sufi prophets, Luni, Milan-Trento 1999
C. Saccone, The Sufi teacher and the beautiful Christian, Carocci, Milan 2005
Italian translations:
Laura Pirinoli (edited), Words of Sufi (Tadhkirat al-Awliyā '), Milan, Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-49934-6
Maria Teresa Granata (edited), Il poema celeste, Milan, Rizzoli / Bur. ISBN 88-17-16774-6
Carlo Saccone (edited), The verb of birds, Milan, SE, 2007 (first ed. SE 1986). ISBN 88-7710-673-5 New fully revised edition: The verb of the birds (Mantiq al-Tayr), Centro Essad Bey - CreateSpace IPP, Charleston 2016 (also in ebook form, Amazon Kindle Edition 2013)
Carlo Saccone (edited), The Rose and the Nightingale, Rome, Carocci, 2003. ISBN 88-430-2636-4
S. Zanardi (edited), Il libro del cammino, Ariele, Milan 2012
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