Fariduddin Attar, a Persian Sufi poet and mystic of the 12th century, is renowned for his poetic works that explore themes of spirituality and the human condition. Born in Nishapur, Iran, his most famous work, “Mantiq al-Tair” (The Conference of the Birds), allegorically depicts a group of birds on a quest for divine union, symbolizing the journey of the soul toward enlightenment. Attar’s poetry, characterized by profound symbolism and philosophical insights, delves into themes of self-discovery and spiritual transformation. He authored other significant works like “Asrar-nama” (The Book of Secrets) and “Tadhkirat al-Awliya” (Memorial of the Saints), further exploring Sufi philosophy and mysticism. Attar’s lyrical beauty and rich philosophical content have made him one of the most revered poets in Persian literature, inspiring readers worldwide with his timeless wisdom and spiritual depth.
Fariduddin Attar Quotes
01. “SOME ISRAELITES INSULTED JESUS ONE DAY AS HE WALK THROUGH THE MARKETPLACE. HE ANSWERED THEM ONLY BY REPEATING PRAYERS IN THEIR NAME. SOMEONE SAID TO HIM – YOU PRAYED FOR THESE MEN. DO YOU NOT FEEL ANGER AT THEIR TREATMENT OF YOU? HE ANSWERED – I COULD SPEND ONLY WHAT I CARRY IN MY PURSE.”
— Fariduddin Attar
02. “THE FIRST STEP IS TO SAY – GOD . AND NOTHING ELSE; THE SECOND IS INTIMACY; AND THE THIRD IS TO BURN.”
— Fariduddin Attar
03. “A YOUNG MAN CAME TO JUNAID AND WISHED TO BECOME HIS STUDENT .HE SAID – YOU HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED AS AN EXPERT ON PEARLS (OF WISDOM). PLEASE GIVE ME ONE, OR SELL IT TO ME. JUNAID REPLIED – YOU COULD NOT AFFORD THE PRICE IF I SOLD IT, AND IF I GAVE YOU ONE FOR NOTHING, YOU WILL NOT REALIZE ITS VALUE. YOU MUST DO AS I HAVE DONE. DIVE INTO THE SEA AND WAIT PATIENTLY UNTILL YOU OBTAIN YOUR PEARL.”
— Fariduddin Attar
04. “HASAN AL BASRI ASKED – AL AJAMI, HOW DID YOU ATATIN TO SUCH SPIRITUAL HEIGHT ? BY WHITENING THE HEART, BY PRAYERS AND NOT BY DARKENING PAPERS BY WRITING.”
— Fariduddin Attar
05. “RABIA WAS ASKED – DO YOU LOVE THE LORD OF GLORY ? SHE SAID – I DO. THEN SHE WAS ASKED – DO YOU HOLD SATAN AS AN ENEMY ? SHE REPLIED – NO. THE QUESTIONER WAS ASTONISHED – HOW IS THAT ? RABIA SAID – MY LOVE OF GOD LEAVES NO ROOM FOR HATING SATAN. SHE WENT ON – I SAW THE PROPHET IN A DREAM. HE SAID TO ME – RABIA ! DO YOU LOVE ME? I SAID – O PROPHET ! WHO IS THERE WHO DOES NOT LOVE THEE? BUT MY LOVE TO GOD HAS SO POSSESSED ME THAT NO PLACE REMAINS FOR LOVING OR HATING ANY SAVE HIM.”
— Fariduddin Attar
06. “WHEN THE PAINTINGS ARE HIDDEN, YOU WILL SEE THE PAINTER. O BROTHER! I WILL TELL YOU THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES. KNOW, THEN , THAT PAINTING AND PAINTER ARE ONE ! WHEN YOUR FAITH IS MADE PERFECT, YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOURSELF, SAVE IN HIM.”
— Fariduddin Attar
07. “A GREAT MAN SUMMONED HIS WISE MEN. HE ORDERED THEM – CREATE FOR ME A SAYING THAT WILL STABILIZE MY INNER STATE. WHEN I AM UNHAPPY IT WILL BRING ME JOY, AND WHEN I AM HAPPY IT WILL REMIND ME OF SADNESS.IT CANNOT BE TOO LONG, AS I WANT TO KEEP IT WITH ME ALWAYS.THE WISE MEN CONSULTED AND CONTEMPLATED DEEPLY THE KING’S COMMAND. FINALLY, THEY RETURNED TO THE KING BEARING A SMALL BOX. IN IT THERE WAS A RING, AND INSIDE THE RING WAS INSCRIBED THE FOLLOWING WORDS – THIS TOO SHALL PASS.”
— Fariduddin Attar
08. “KHAFIF WENT OUT ON A PILGRIMAGE AND CARRIED ONLY A JUG AND A ROPE TO DRAW WATER.AS HE PASSED THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, HE SAW MANY DEER STANDING ON THE TOP OF A WELL, DRINKING WATER. AS HE APPROACHED, THEY RUN AWAY,AND THE LEVEL OF WATER WENT DOWN. IN SPITE OF HIS EFFORTS, HE COULD NOT DRAW WATER FROM THE WELL. HE PRAYED TO THE LORD TO RAISE THE LEVEL OF WATER AS HE HAS DONE FOR DEER. THE DIVINE VOICE REPLIED – WE CANNOT DO SO, AS YOU DEPEND UPON THE ROPE AND THE JUG BESIDES US. IMMEDIATELY HE THREW BOTH OF THEM AWAY AND THE WATER LEVEL ROSE AND HE QUENCHED HIS THIRST. HE RECITED THE INCIDENT TO JUNAID, WHO SAID – THE LORD WAS TESTING YOUR DEPENDENCE ON HIM. HAD YOU WAITED PATIENTLY FOR A LONGER TIME, IT WOULD HAVE OVERFLOWED THE TOP.”
— Fariduddin Attar
09. “BAYZID SAID – PARADISE IS OF NO WORTH FOR THOSE WHO LOVE. RABIA HAD A RELATED SAYING – FIRST THE NEIGHBOR, THEN THE HOUSE. THAT IS , THE NEIGHBOR, OR GOD, IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE HOUSE, OR PARADISE.”
— Fariduddin Attar
10. “ONE DAY A MAN SEATED NEXT TO HASAN DISPLAYED A MIRACLE BY BRINGING OUT A LIVE FISH FROM A TUMBLER OF WATER . HASAN PLACED HIS HANDS IN A BURNING OVEN AND BROUGHT OUT A LIVE FISH. THE MAN CHALLENGED HASAN TO JUMP IN THE FIRE WITH HIM TO SEE WHO WOULD SURVIVE. HASAN REPLIED – MIRACLE MONGERING WILL NOT DO. LET US DROWN OURSELVES IN THE OCEAN OF NONEXISTANCE AND COME OUT CLOAKED WITH THE GARMENT OF DIVINE EXISTENCE. THE MAN WAS SILENT.”
— Fariduddin Attar
11. “on day dhu l nun reached a canal, where he performed his ablutions. He saw a beautiful palace situated close to the bank of the canal, on the balcony of which stood a very beautiful woman. Dhu l nun asked her to speak to him. She said – when I saw you at a distance, i felt you were madman; when you came closer, i saw you were a learned man when you came closer still i considered you to be an enlightened soul. but now you have spoken to me i consider you none of these. Dhu l nun asked her why she felt so. she replied – if you were mad, you would not perform ablutions, if you were learned, you would not look at me; if you were enlightened, you would cast your glance at God and none besides. saying this she disappeared.”
— Fariduddin Attar
12. “SO COMPLETE WAS THE BAYAZID’S ABSORPTION IN GOD THAT, EVERY DAY WHEN HE WAS CALLED BY A DISCIPLE WHO HAD BEEN HIS INSEPARABLE COMPANION FOR TWENTY YEARS, HE WOULD SAY – MY SON ! WHAT IS YOUR NAME ? MASTER THE DISCIPLE SAID ONE DAY – YOU ARE MOCKING ME. FOR TWENTY YEARS I HAVE BEEN SERVING YOU, AND EVERY DAY YOU ASK ME MY NAME. MY SON ..REPLIED BAYAZID . I DO NOT DERIDE YOU. BUT HIS NAME HAS ENTERED MY HEART AND HAS EXPELLED ALL OTHER NAMES. AS SOON AS I LEARN A NEW NAME. I PROMPTLY FORGET IT.”
— Fariduddin Attar
13. “IBRAHIM DREAMED HE SAW THE ANGEL GABRIEL WRITING DOWN THE NAMES OF THE FRIENDS OF GOD. IBRAHIM ASKED – IS MY NAME THERE? NO! THE ANGEL REPLIED . IBRAHIM SAID – I AM THE FRIEND OF THE FRIENDS OF GOD. GABRIEL WAS SILENT FOR A LONG TIME. THEN HE SAID – IBRAHIM, I AM WRITING YOUR NAME AT THE HEAD OF THIS LIST.”
— Fariduddin Attar
14. “SOMEONE ASKED SATAN – O WRETCHED ONE, WHEN IT BECAME APPARENT THAT YOU HAD BEEN CURSED, WHY DID YOU ACCEPT IT SO WHOLEHEARTDLY IN YOUR HEART LIKE A TREASURE ? SATAN REPLIED – A CURSE IS THE KINGS ARROW.WHEN HE FIRES IT , HE LOOKS TO THE TARGET. IF YOU HAVE EYES, LOOK AT THE ARCHER’S TARGET, NOT AT HIS ARROW.”
— Fariduddin Attar
15. “SALIH ALWAYS TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES,.WHO KNOCKS AT THE DOOR OF SOMEONE CONSTANTLY, ONE DAY THE DOOR MUST BE OPENED TO HIM.RABIA ONE DAY HEARD IT AND SAID – SALIH, HOW LONG WILL YOU GO ON PREACHING THUS, USING THE FUTURE TENSE, SAYING – WILL BE OPENED? WAS THE DOOR EVER CLOSED? SALIH BOWED IN SUBMISSION TO HER.
— Fariduddin Attar
16. “I am free from pride, passion and desire. I reveal the Divine mysteries and thereby I fill the lovers of God throughout the world with amazement and a hundred thousand creatures remain astonished at me.
— Fariduddin Attar
17. “Now I am made one with you and from that union my heart in consumed with rapture and my tongue is all bewildered. By union, I have been merged in the Unity, I am now altogether apart from all else. I am You, and you are I, nay, not I, all is altogether You.
— Fariduddin Attar
18. “He alone is the true gnostic who knows God and whoever is without this knowledge is unfit to be counted among human beings. The gnostic has a heart full of divine love, and his actions are pure and without stain.
— Fariduddin Attar
19. “You are God in Absolute Unity and you dwell here in body and soul, for you are the Divine Essence dwelling in the midst of each one of us. O Lord! How glorious is the manifestation of Your Light! You are the Sought and the Seeker. Give me, I pray you to drink from the cup of immortality, for You are the Cup and the Wine and Cup-bearer.
— Fariduddin Attar
20. “He who desires the Palace of the King (Divine proximity) knows that it is more desirable than any other place. It is the habitation of the soul; it is the goal of our desires, the resting- place of the heart, the seat of Truth itself.
— Fariduddin Attar
21. “He alone is the true gnostic who knows God and whoever is without this knowledge is unfit to be counted among human beings. The gnostic has a heart full of divine love, and his actions are pure and without stain.
— Fariduddin Attar
22. “When that sun shines upon the traveler, the dustbin of this world is changed for him into rose-garden: the kernel is seen beneath the rind. No longer does the lover see any particle of himself, he sees only the Beloved. Where soever he looks, he sees always His Face, in every atom he beholds His dwelling- place. A hundred thousand mysteries are revealed to him from under the veil, as clearly as the sun.
— Fariduddin Attar
23. “Until a man treads his carnal-self (Nafs) underfoot, how can he find the way to the Abode of Light.
— Fariduddin Attar
24. “If you should attain to the Throne of Glory, do not cease a moment to say: “Is there more than this?” Plunge yourself into the Sea of gnosis, or if you cannot do that, throw the dust of the road upon your head.”
— Fariduddin Attar
25. “Though you build lofty palace as high as the heavens, yet in the end you will come to be buried under the earth.”
— Fariduddin Attar
26. “You (God) are fire, but Your fire is veiled, for in all to which You have joined Yourself, you are under a veii. You are the breath of life in both body and soul. You are the Water of Life to be found in every place. In-every form You manifest Yourself, according to Your will, even in the dust are Your mysteries shown forth. You are the Creator, are seen in creatures Spirit shining through gross matter.”
— Fariduddin Attar
27. “The dervish’s garment is nothing but a patched frock and he is not led astray by worldly desires and passions.”
— Fariduddin Attar
28. “When the sun of gnosis (Marifat) shines forth from the heaven above onto this blessed road, each is illuminated according to his capacity and finds his own place in the realm of Truth.”
— Fariduddin Attar
29. “By union with You, | have become the perfect gnostic and now the gnostic has vanished away and I have become altogether the Creative Truth.”
— Fariduddin Attar
30. “If you have power of discernment join the company of dervishes and become one of them. Love for the dervishes is the key which opens the door into Paradise. Those who hate them are worthy of condemnations, i.e, they are accured people.”
— Fariduddin Attar
31. “He who walks on the mystic path, has no longing after fine palaces and fair gardens: in his heart is nothing but the pain of yearning love of God.”
— Fariduddin Attar
32. “If you have not attained to the joy of union with Beloved, lament for your separation from Him. If you have not looked upon the Beauty of the Beloved, arouse yourself, do not sit still, but seek out those mysteries, destined for you and if as yet you do not know ‘then seek them out in shame.’”
— Fariduddin Attar
33. “Yet thousands of men are lost eternally in quest of Him. Only he who is perfect apprehends these mysteries. He who is perfect succeed in this quest, and would plunge into this fathomless sea.”
— Fariduddin Attar
