Subjectivity in ʿAttār, Persian Sufism, and European Mysticism

The flight of the self: Exploring more‐than‐human companionship in rural Pakistan

“…Attar's Sufi ideology suggests that understanding the 'self' is key to understanding the Divine. In his poem, as many interpretations have suggested (see, e.g., Baxter-Tab riztchi, 2003;Keshavarz, 2006;Morris, 1990;Ritter, 2003;Stone, 2006;Yaghoobi, 2017), the Simorgh symbolically represents the Divine, and the hoopoe is presented as a spiritual leader who helps wayfarers (the 30 birds) strengthen their character and develop a deeper understanding of the 'self' through the passion of companionship with the Divine. I do not suggest that Arif and Nasir, or other South Punjabi pigeon flyers, followed a Sufi path or were familiar with Attar's poetry.…”

“…Manteq at‐Tair ( The Conference of the Birds ) has captured the attention of Western commentators since the early 19th century. The book is comprised of a more than 4,500‐line poem that offers a critical commentary on early Sufism, on the themes of companionship and annihilation, and the philosophy of union, demonstrating that ‘the observer and the observed are one, and the seeker and the sought are the same’ (Yaghoobi, 2017, p. 25). It blends different short stories under a central narrative to discuss a journey towards the discovery of the self, and untangles secrets of this journey through seven stages of companionship (Morris, 1990, p. 78).…”