I now give brief sketch of the life of ‘Attar. Scholars might refer to Nafhatul-Uns for his life-sketch and for his poetry to his Diwan. Anyhow his greatness will be apparent from the significant eulogy that Hazrat Jalaluddin Rumi has offered to him, “‘Attar is my very soul, as Sana’i… is my spiritual eye. In ‘Attar appeared after 150 years of the effulgence (Nur) of Hazrat Mansoor Al-Hallaj (d. 922 AD).” Needless to say that even a cursory reading of ‘ Attar’s works disclose the supreme height of spirituality in which he ever soared.

The star of Sufism was born and dwelt in Naishaapur (Iran). He Rs initiated into the Sufi lore by Sheikh Mujed-ud-din, the reputed scholar of Baghdad, the most important center at that time of Sufism, and the focus of theology, law, philosophy and literature, where scholars from various parts of the Muslim world assembled for researches in Oriental Mysticism and canonical religion, and where free debates were held between Christians and Muslims and works of Plato and Plotinus were translated into Arabic and discussed. There is no gainsaying the fact, as stated above, that the hidden guidance of Hazrat Mansoor Al-Hallaj was always there with ‘ Attar. In the beginning, he was a physician-cum-chemist, carrying on a very lucrative practice. One day a derviesh called at his dispensary and asked for alms, but he was too busy with his patients to care for him and gave no reply. When he took no notice of him on his second polite demand, the derviesh remarked, “You are so busy amassing wealth here, how will you depart from this world leaving forcibly everything that you have collected here?” ‘ Attar answered, “I shall give up my ghost just as you will.” Hearing this the derviesh lay down on the floor, closed his eyes, uttered Kalima, and passed away. This miraculous passing away of the derviesh to the next world at command opened the eyes of ‘ Attar. He distributed all his wealth to the poor, closed the dispensary, left his house, and turned a derviesh. As has been pointed out by Hazrat Imam Ghazaali, the only course for the enlightened Sufi is when the hour is arrived for illumination, to know, “one can hope for salvation by devotion and the conquest of one’s passions, a procedure which presupposes renouncement and detachment from the world of falsehood in order to turn towards eternity and meditation on God. The only condition for success is to sacrifice honors and riches and to sever the ties and attachments of worldly life.” After electing the contemplative life, ‘ Attar started hard austerities. As a result he was blessed with high spiritual experiences and ecstasies, his renown spread far and wide.

‘ Attar wrote over 114 books on Sufism, the most reputed of which is the Tazkaratul-Auliya the next is Mantaqut-Tair (translated by Fitz-Gerald into English as the Colloquy of Birds). Except some thirty books of ‘ Attar, all others are stated to be lost and are not available

‘ Attar lived long, but his end like that of Hazrat Mansoor Al-Hallaj was more than tragic. Changiez Khan invaded Naishaapur and under his grim orders, his soldiers started putting the residents of the place mercilessly to sword. The latter appealed to ‘ Attar. He immediately turned his bowl and lo! All the soldiers of Changiez were turned blind, as if by a miracle, and the massacre was stopped. Changiez again ordered the massacre to be carried on. ‘ Attar because of public approach to him, again turned his bowl and the soldiers turned blind and the massacre stopped. Changiez Khan then himself appeared on the scene on the third day and under his orders as the massacre stared, ‘ Attar was approached again and he as usual was about to turn his bowl when Hazrat Khidhr appeared before him and said, “Refrain from interfering with the mandates of the Lord. You shall be taken to task for what you have already done, whilst terrible will be the consequences to you if you repeat the thing over again.”

Then soldiers tying ‘ Attar took him to the market to sell him as a slave. Dirhams 5000 were offered for him but ‘ Attar told the soldiers not to accepts the deal as he will fetch him higher price. Whilst the soldier was waiting for a better offer, the Divine Voice told ‘ Attar, “Your arrogance is remarkable. You consider that you are worth much more than what has already been offered for you.” ‘ Attar was ashamed. Shortly it became evening and no new customer appeared on the scene. As the soldier was getting disappointed, an old lady came and offered her bundle of hay in exchange for ‘ Attar. ‘ Attar at once told the soldier, “Make haste and sell me to the lady, I am worth no more. This is a genuine offer.” Exasperated the soldier cut off the head of ‘ Attar with a sword. The Lord could not tolerate the insult offered to his devotee by the soldier who was crushed to death by an adjoining wall falling on his head.

Now go through the subject matter of Tazkara, which describes the peak experiences of spirituality of the saints. Seekers after God will find invaluable matter in it for study and help in pursuing the Path that leads to God-realization and spiritual intoxication.