Abstract
This chapter illustrates how spirituality is understood in the discipline of Persian literature. It begins with a general discussion on manifestation of spirituality in literature in the world, and then focuses on mystical texts in Iran that are known as Sufi literature. Since Sufi language is full of mysteries that can be solved only by heart, Persian Sufi literature can be best acquainted with if it is set in its own context. Thus, the chapter introduces one of the most significant Persian Sufi poets, Farid al-Din Attar, whose writings are known and investigated by many Eastern and Western philosophers and scholars in different countries and different languages. To get to know some influential spiritual themes in Attar’s poetry (Oneness, selflessness, and Love), one of his most famous works, The conference of the birds (Mantiq al-tayr) is chosen as an exemplar. At the end of the chapter, the researcher illustrates how mystical themes in Sufi literature can be read universally, by all readers of all time, and be applied in their own spiritual journeys.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
As Watts (1958) explains, in Zen “there is no study of scriptures” (p. 18). Zen “is knowable only by personal experience”, however, there are records of the dialogues between the masters and their disciples that are written by those who have travelled the path (p. 18) and are read and studied by those who are eager to know more about and practice this Eastern philosophy of life.
- 2.
- 3.
The story is taken from Este’lami (2006) who presents it as an example of stories that are related to Attar with not enough convincing evidence (p. 58).
- 4.
This sentence is Feuillebois-Pierunek’s translation of Attar’s poetry in his Mukhtar-nama.
- 5.
The word jan has various meanings in Persian and is translated differently in different texts. As Feuillebois-Pierunek (2006) writes, it can mean “the soul, the spirit, the vital principle, and even ‘life’” depending on the context (p. 312).
- 6.
“Farid al-Din” literally means “the unique One of the Faith” (Waley 2006, p. 233), meaning there is nobody like him in passing the soul’s stages.
- 7.
- 8.
Barry (2006) believes that a famous example of paradoxes in Sufi literature is the paradox that is played upon the invisibility of the Divine. As he explains, to true mystics “with spiritual eyes” the Divine is not only the invisible Transcendent (as is known in orthodox religions), but is also the Immanent who “lies revealed in the mirror of all created things” (p. 140).
- 9.
Different (sometimes opposing) interpretations on Sufi literature always remind me of Holan’s (1982) poem, Vision, in which Socrates reflects upon Plato’s writing:
“I’ve never thought like that or felt like that;
I’ve never said this!”
Socrates, reading Plato … (p. 46)
- 10.
- 11.
Lewisohn (2006) brings an example of Emily Dickinson’s poetry on the doctrine of “Oneness of Divine Action”: The only shows I see/Tomorrow and today/Perchance Eternity/The only one I meet/Is God. (p. 302)
References
Anvar-Chenderoff, L. (2006). ‘Without us, from us we’re safe’: Self and selflessness in the Diwan of Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 241–254). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Arberry, A. J. (2000). Introduction. In F. Attar (Ed.), Muslim saints and mystics (pp. VII–XXXV) (trans: Arberry, A.J.), Ames: Omphaloskepsis.
Barry, M. (2006). Illustrating Attar: A pictorial meditation by Master Habiballah of Mashhad in the tradition of Master Bihzad of Herat. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 135–164). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Belle, C. V. (1992). Towards truth: An Australian spiritual journey. Clare: Pacific Press.
Bly, R. (Ed.). (1995). The soul is here for its own joy. Hopewell: Ecco.
Bürgel, J. C. (2006). Some remarks on forms and functions of repetitive structure in the epic poetry of Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 197–214). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
De Bruijn, J. T. P. (1997). Persian Sufi poetry: An introduction to the mystical use of classical poems. Richmond: Curzon Press.
Elahi, B. (2005). The path of perfection (M. Stevens & M. Miller, Trans.). Bracey: Paraview.
Elahi, O. (2007). In B. Elahi (Ed.), Athar al-Hagh (Vol. I). Tehran: Nashre Panj (in Persian).
Ernst, C. W. (2006). On losing one’s head: Hallajian motifs and authorial identity in poems ascribed to Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 330–343). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Este’lami, M. (2006). Narratology and realities in the study of Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 57–62). London:I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Feuillebois-Pierunek, E. (2006). Mystical quest and Oneness in the Mukhtar-nama attributed to Farid al-Din Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 309–326). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Frede, D. (2013, Fall). Plato’s ethics: An overview. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/plato-ethics/
Holan, V. (1982). Mirroring: Selected poems of Vladimír Holan (C. G. Hanzlicek & D. Hábová, Trans.). Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
Jarrige, J. F. (2004). Introduction. In A. Ertuğ (Ed.), Spiritual journey: Sacred art from musée Guimet (pp. 15–27). Istanbul: Ertuğ & Kocabiyik.
Keshavarz, F. (2006). Flight of the birds: The poetic animating the spiritual in Attar’s Mantiq al-tayr. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 112–134). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Kramer, S. N. (1972). Sumerian mythology: A study of spiritual and literary achievement in the third millennium B.C. (Rev. Ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Landolt, H. (2006). Attar, Sufism and Ismailism. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 3–26). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Lewisohn, L. (2006). Sufi symbolism in the Persian hermeneutic tradition: Reconstructing the Pagoda of Attar’s esoteric poetics. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 255–308). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Lewisohn, L., & Shackle, C. (2006). Editor’s introduction and acknowledgements. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. xvii–xxvii). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Losensky, P. (2006). Words and deeds: Message and structure in Attar’s Tadhkirat al-awliya’. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 75–92). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Nabi, H. (1995). Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications.
Nasr, S. H. (2012). Foreword. In A. Y. Lumbars (Ed.), The conference of the birds (p. 1). Guangzhou: Everbest Printing.
Palmer, W. (2007). Teaching hidden wholeness: Spirituality and literature. Journal of College & Character, VIII(4), 1–9.
Pazouki, S. (2006). Sufi saints and sainthood in Attar’s Tadhkirat al-awliya. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 63–74). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Shackle, C. (2006). Representation of Attar in the West and in the East: Translations of the Mantiq al-tayr and the tale of Shaykh San’an. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 165–193). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
St. John of the Cross. (1995). Spiritual canticle of the soul and the bridegroom Christ (D. Lewis, Trans.). Retrieved form http://www.ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/canticle.i.html.
Stone, L. (2006). Blessed perplexity: The topos of hayrat in Attar’s Mantiq al-tayr. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 95–111). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Vogt, K. (2015, Spring). Seneca. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/seneca/
Waley, M. I. (2006). Didactic style and self-criticism in Farid al-Din Attar. In L. Lewisohn & C. Shackle (Eds.), Attar and the Persian Sufi tradition: The art of spiritual flight (pp. 215–240). London: I. B. Tauris and Co Ltd.
Watts, A. W. (1958). The spirit of Zen: A way of life, work, and art in the Far East. New York: Grove Press.
Waxman, B. F. (1999). Nature, spirituality, and later life in literature: An essay on the Romanticism of older writers. The Gerontologist, 39(5), 516–524.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rafi, H. (2016). Spirituality and Persian Literature: Manifestation of Mysticism in Attar’s The Conference of the Birds . In: de Souza, M., Bone, J., Watson, J. (eds) Spirituality across Disciplines: Research and Practice:. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31380-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31380-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31378-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31380-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)