Nishapur نیشابور Nishabur
Nishapur Night City
Nickname(s): Abarshahr, Turquoise Town, City of Imam Reza, Night city[1]
Nishapur
Coordinates: 36°12′48″N 58°47′45″E / 36.21333°N 58.79583°E / 36.21333; 58.79583Coordinates: 36°12′48″N 58°47′45″E / 36.21333°N 58.79583°E / 36.21333; 58.79583
Country	Iran
Province	Razavi Khorasan
County	Nishapur County
Bakhsh	Central
Shahpur
Elevation	1,250 m (4,100 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	205,972
	Census
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
Website	Neyshaboor

Free-blown, wheel-cut carafes. First half of 11th century. Excavated at Teppe Madraseh, Neishapur. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Nishapur or Nishabur (Persian: نیشاپور‎, also Romanized as Nīshāpūr, Nīshābūr, and Neyshābūr),^[2] is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad. Nishapur derived its name from its alleged founder, the Sasanian king Shapur.

The region's economy is largely agricultural, based on grain and cotton, and it is also the second industrial city in Khorasan, and it is one of the most prosperous localities in Iran, although somewhat blighted by drug smuggling from nearby Afghanistan. It had a population of 205,972 people according to 2006 census.^[3] The main east-west railway line through Iran passes through the town. The region is very prone to earthquakes, with the most recent significant ones occurring in 1986 and 1997.

History[link]

Tomb of Omar Khayyám, Nishabur

Nishapur occupies an important strategic position astride the old Silk Road that linked Anatolia and the Mediterranean with China. On the Silk Road, Nishapur has often defined the flexible frontier between the Iranian plateau and Central Asia. The town derived its name from its reputed founder, the Sassanian king Shapur I, who is said to have established it in the 3rd century CE. Nearby are the turquoise mines that supplied the world with turquoise for at least two millennia. It became an important town in the Khorasan region but subsequently declined in significance until a revival in its fortunes in 9th century under the Tahirid dynasty, when the glazed ceramics of Nishapur formed an important item of trade to the west. For a time Nishapur rivaled Baghdad or Cairo: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1037 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. In the year 1000CE, it was among the 10 largest cities on earth.^[4] After the husband of Genghis Khan's daughter was killed at Nishapur in 1221, she ordered the death of all in the city (~1.7 million), and the skulls of men, women, and children were piled in pyramids by the Mongols. This invasion and earthquakes destroyed the pottery kilns. In 1979, the 15th World Scout Jamboree was scheduled to be held in Nishapur, but it was cancelled because of the uprising against the Shah of Iran led by Khomeini Ayatollah.

Origin of Name: It seems to have been founded by the Sasanian Shapur I in the 3rd century CE, and possibly rebuilt by Shapur II in the following century. The name presumably stems from *nēv-šāpūr "fair, good city of Shapur."^[5]

Culture[link]

Tomb of Kamal-ol-Molk, Nishabur.

Nishapur is also home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The poet and mathematician Omar Khayyám was born in Nishapur in 1048 and is buried a few miles outside the town, near the Imamzadeh Mahroq Mosque. The 12th century poet and mystic Farid al-Din Attar, another native of Nishapur, is also buried nearby. And Iran's greatest contemporary painter, Kamal-ol-molk is buried in the same place. Also Nishapur has been the hometown of famous people including:

1. Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (one of Islam's greatest muhaddiths, whose collection of hadith, Sahih Muslim, is second in authenticity only to Muhammad al-Bukhari's Sahih al-Bukhari)
2. Imam al-Hakim (another one of Islam's greatest muhaddiths and scholarly giants)
3. Prof. Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani (great contemporary Persian poet and writer and Persian literature Professor, who is famous for his literary criticism)
4. Ostad Parviz Meshkatian (famous Musician, researcher, Santur player and composer).
5. Heydar Yaghma (an illiterate worker who began telling poems and published them.)
6. Haji Bektash Veli (Muslim mystic, humanist and philosopher)
7. Saadat Khan or Wakil-i-Mutlaq, Saadat Khan also called Burhan-ul-Mulk, was the founder of the Awadh dynasty in north India in 18th century.

Popular culture[link]

US band Santana released an instrumental track entitled "Incident at Neshabur" on their 1970 LP release, Abraxas.

Archaeology sites[link]

Bowl with white slip, incised design, colored, and glazed. Excavated at Sabz Pushan, Neishapur. 9th-early 10th century. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Little archaeology has been done on this vast and complicated site. George Curzon remarked that Nishapur had been destroyed and rebuilt more times than any other city in history, an evocative statement whether or not it is statistically true. The Metropolitan Museum of Art undertook excavations from 1935 that were interrupted in 1940. Searching largely for museum-worthy trophies that they shared with the government of the Shah, the Metropolitan's publications were limited to its own Nishapur ceramics. The site of Nishapur has been ransacked for half a century since World War II, to feed the international market demand for early Islamic works of art.

Shadiyakh[link]

Shadiyakh (in Persian: شادیاخ, a contracted form of شادی کاخ, Shadi-Kakh or Palace of Happiness) was one of the main palaces of old Nishapur up to the 9th century AD, which became more important and populated after that. Some notable people like Attar lived there. Attar's tomb is nowadays in that area. This palace was perhaps completely ruined in 13th century AD.

ٍExcavations began in 2000 there and continued for around 2 years: buildings (possibly a palace), skeleton, equipments and other items were found there.

Recent incidents[link]

• In the Summer of 1987 (24.7.1987), a flood in Boojan village killed over 1,000 people and destroyed some villages.
• On February 18, 2004, in the Nishapur train disaster, a train carrying flammable goods derailed and caught fire near the town. Five hours later, during fire fighting and rescue work, a massive explosion destroyed the train and many nearby buildings. Around 300 people were said to have been killed, mainly fire and rescue workers but also the local governor and mayor and the heads of the fire and rail services.^[6]

Souvenirs[link]

The most important Nishapur souvenirs include turquoise and rhubarb.

Neyshabur Turquoise has been used for more than 2000 years and for this turquoise it is sometimes called "the turquoise land". Neyshabur turquoise and jewellery made from it are sold as souvenirs in Neyshabur and Mashhad resorts.

Rhubarb (Persian rivaas or rivand), a sour vegetable, grows at the foot of the eponymous Rivand Mountains (more recently, Turkified as Mount Binalud). Soft drinks made from the stems of the plant, such as "Sharbate rivaas" (in Persian:شربت ریواس) and "Khoshaabe rivaas" (in Persian:خوشاب ریواس), are sold at some Nishapur resorts as souvenirs.

Sister cities[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Kairouan, Tunisia
• Baghdad, Iraq
• Basra, Iraq
• Ghazni, Afghanistan
• Balkh, Afghanistan
• Herat, Afghanistan
• Merv, Turkmenistan
• Bukhara, Uzbekistan
• Samarqand, Uzbekistan
• Khiva, Uzbekistan
• Khojand, Tajikistan
• Kulob, Tajikistan

References[link]

External links[link]

Nishapur portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nishapur

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nishapur

• Nishapur Mayors (Persian)
• Nishapur governors (Persian)
• Ceramics of Nishapur and other centers
• World Gazetteer on Nishapur
• Neyshaburian e-newspaper (Persian)
• A useful weblog about Nishapur (Persian)
• wooden village website
• Nishapur Mathhouse
• Neyshabur bonyad (Persian)
• Elias Pirasteh, Neyshabur, Photo Set, flickr
• Ardavan Ruzbeh, When National Heritage is not an equal to the Emām-Jom'eh, a reportage on the demolition of a national monument, Madreseh-ye Golshan (مدرسه گلشن), in Nishabur, in Persian, Radio Zamāneh, May 29, 2008: Text, Audio.
• Hossein Davoudi, Dizbād: A Staircase to History, in Persian, Jadid Online, 2008, [1].
  A Slide Show of Dizbād, by Hossein Davoudi, Jadid Online, 2008, [2] (5 min 39 sec).
  Note: Dizbād is a small village between Mashhad and Neyshābūr, located at some 40 km distance from Mashhad.

v t e Razavi Khorasan Province Capital Mashhad Counties (A-R) and Cities Bajestan County Bajestan Yunesi Bakharz County Bakharz Bardaskan County Bardaskan Anabad Shahrabad Chenaran County Chenaran Dargaz County Dargaz Chapeshlu Lotfabad Now Khandan Fariman County Fariman Farhadgerd Qalandarabad Sefid Sang Firuzeh County Firuzeh Hemmatabad Gonabad County Gonabad Bidokht Kakhk Joghatai County Joghatai Jowayin County Neqab Kalat County Kalat Shahr-e Zow Kashmar County Kashmar Rivash Khalilabad County Khalilabad Kondor Khoshab County Soltanabad Khvaf County Khvaf Nashtifan Qasemabad Salami Sangan Mahvelat County Feyzabad Shadmehr Mashhad County Mashhad Malekabad Razaviyeh Nishapur County Nishapur Chekneh Darrud Kharv Eshqabad Qadamgah Quchan County Quchan Bajgiran Rashtkhvar County Rashtkhvar Jangal Counties (S-Z) and Cities Sabzevar County Sabzevar Davarzan Rud Ab Sheshtomad Sarakhs County Sarakhs Mazdavand Taybad County Taybad Kariz Mashhad Rizeh Torbat-e-Heydarieh County Torbat-e Heydarieh Bayg Kadkan Robat-e Sang Torbat-e-Jam County Torbat-e Jam Nasrabad Nilshahr Salehabad Torqabeh and Shandiz County Torqabeh Shandiz Zave County Dowlatabad Landmarks Imam Reza shrine Goharshad Mosque Tus citadel Kooh Sangi Akhlamad Mount Binalud Zist-e Khavar Kian Center Azar Barzin Mehr fire temple,Sabzevar Ferdowsi's mausoleum in Tus Haruniyeh Dome in Tus Tomb of Farid ad-Din Attar,Nishapur Kohandezh, Nishapur Tomb of Omar Khayyám, Nishapur

v t e Architecture of Iran Styles Parsi style · (includes Pre-Parsi style and Achaemenid architecture) Parthian style · (includes Sassanid architecture) Khorasani style · Razi style · Azari style · Isfahani style Elements Bazaars · The Persian Garden (hayāt) · Windcatchers · Shabestan · Kucheh · Talar · Iwan · Howz · Panjdari · Hashti · Andaruni · Biruni · Dalan e Vorudi · Qanat · Kariz · Gonbad · Ab anbar · Yakhchal · Caravanserais · Robats · Burj · Khaneqah · Tekyeh · Sahn · Imamzadeh · Mosques Notable traditional cities Architecture of Tehran · Bam · Bukhara · Ctesiphon · Derbent · Herat · Gur-e Amir  · Isfahan · Amol · Kashan  · Mashhad  · Merv  · Nishapur  · Persepolis  · Qazvin · Qom · Samarkand · Shahrisabz · Shiraz · Susa · Tabriz  · Takht-i-Suleiman  · Yazd Theory and analysis Traditional Persian residential architecture · Traditional water sources of Persian antiquity · Islamic architecture Lists List of ab anbars of Qazvin · List of historical Iranian architects · List of mosques · Args, castles, and ghal'ehs · List of ziyarat-gahs

Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (1145-1146 - c. 1221; Persian: ابو حمید ابن ابوبکر ابراهیم‎), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn (فریدالدین) and ‘Attār (عطار - "the perfumer"), was a Persian Muslim poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nīshāpūr who had an abiding influence on Persian poetry and Sufism.

Biography[link]

Information about Attar's life is rare. He is mentioned by only two of his contemporaries, `Awfi and Tusi. However, all sources confirm that he was from Nishapur, a major city of medieval Khorasan (now located in the northeast of Iran), and according to `Awfi, he was a poet of the Seljuq period. It seems that he was not well known as a poet in his own lifetime, except at his home town, and his greatness as a mystic, a poet, and a master of narrative was not discovered until the 15th century.^[1]

`Attar's mausoleum in Nishapur, Iran

`Attar was probably the son of a prosperous chemist, receiving an excellent education in various fields. While his works say little else about his life, they tell us that he practiced the profession of pharmacy and personally attended to a very large number of customers.<sup>[1]</sup> The people he helped in the pharmacy used to confide their troubles in `Attar and this affected him deeply. Eventually, he abandoned his pharmacy store and traveled widely - to Baghdad, Basra, Kufa, Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Khwarizm, Turkistan, and India, meeting with Sufi Shaykhs - and returned promoting Sufi ideas.^[2]

`Attar's initiation into Sufi practices is subject to much speculation and fabrication. Of all the famous Sufi Shaykhs supposed to have been his teachers, only one - Majd ud-Din Baghdadi - comes within the bounds of possibility. The only certainty in this regard is `Attar's own statement that he once met him.^[3]

In any case it can be taken for granted that from childhood onward `Attar, encouraged by his father, was interested in the Sufis and their sayings and way of life, and regarded their saints as his spiritual guides.^[4]

`Attar reached an age of over 70 and died a violent death in the massacre which the Mongols inflicted on Nishapur in April 1221.^[1] Today, his mausoleum is located in Nishapur. It was built by Ali-Shir Nava'i in the 16th century.

Like many aspects of his life, his death, too, is blended with legends and speculation.

Teachings[link]

A miniature painting made in the year 1472, is used to illustrate the six poems by Attar of Nishapur.

The thought-world depicted in `Attar's works reflects the whole evolution of the Sufi movement. The starting point is the idea that the body-bound soul's awaited release and return to its source in the other world can be experienced during the present life in mystic union attainable through inward purification.<sup>[5]</sup> In explaining his thoughts, 'Attar uses material not only from specifically Sufi sources but also from older ascetic legacies. Although his heroes are for the most part Sufis and ascetics, he also introduces stories from historical chronicles, collections of anecdotes, and all types of high-esteemed literature.<sup>[1]</sup> His talent for perception of deeper meanings behind outward appearances enables him to turn details of everyday life into illustrations of his thoughts. The idiosyncrasy of `Attar's presentations invalidates his works as sources for study of the historical persons whom he introduces. As sources on the hagiology and phenomenology of Sufism, however, his works have immense value.

Judging from `Attar's writings, he viewed the ancient Aristotelian heritage with skepticism and dislike.^[6][7] Interestingly, he did not want to uncover the secrets of nature. This is particularly remarkable in the case of medicine, which fell within the scope of his profession. He obviously had no motive for showing off his secular knowledge in the manner customary among court panegyrists, whose type of poetry he despised and never practiced. Such knowledge is only brought into his works in contexts where the theme of a story touches on a branch of natural science.

Poetry[link]

`Attar speaks of his own poetry in various contexts including the epilogues of his long narrative poems. He confirms the guess likely to be made by every reader that he possessed an inexhaustible fund of thematic and verbal inspiration. He writes that when he composed his poems, more ideas came into his mind than he could possibly use.^[8] He also states that the effort of poetical composition threw him into a state of trance in which he could not sleep.^[9]

Works[link]

The question whether all the works that have been ascribed to him are really from his pen, has not been solved. This is due to two facts that have been observed in his works:^[1]

1. There are considerable differences of style among these works.
2. Some of them indicate a Sunnite, and others a Shia, allegiance of the author.

Classification of the various works by these two criteria yields virtually identical results. The German orientalist Hellmut Ritter at first thought that the problem could be explained by a spiritual evolution of the poet. He distinguished three phases of `Attar's creativity:

1. Works in which mysticism is in perfect balance with a finished, story-teller's art.
2. Works in which a pantheistic zeal gains the upper hand over literary interest.
3. Works in which the aging poet idolizes Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib while there is no trace of ordered thoughts and descriptive skills.^[2]

Ritter surmised that the last phase, that of old age, was coincidental with a conversion to Shi'ism.^[10] However, in 1941, the Persian scholar Nafisi was able to prove that the works of the third phase in Ritter's classification were written by another `Attar who lived about two hundred and fifty years later at Mashhad and was a native of Tun.<sup>[1]</sup> Ritter accepted this finding in the main, but doubted whether Nafisi was right in attributing the works of the second group also to this `Attar of Tun. One of Ritter's arguments is that the principal figure in the second group is not Ali, as in the third group, but Hallaj, and that there is nothing in the explicit content of the second group to indicate a Shia allegiance of the author. Another is the important chronological point that a manuscript of the Jawhar al-Dāt, the chief work in the second group, bears the date 735 A.H. (= 1334-35 AD). While `Attar of Tun's authorship of the second group is untenable, Nafisi was certainly right in concluding that the style difference (already observed by Ritter) between the works in the first group and those in the second group is too great to be explained by a spiritual evolution of the author. The authorship of the second group remains an unsolved problem.^[1]

According to Edward G. Browne, Attar as well as Rumi and Sana'i were all Sunni Muslims and their poetry abound with praise for the first two caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattāb.^[11] According to Annemarie Schimmel, the tendency among Shia authors to include leading mystical poets such as Rumi and Attar among their own ranks, became stronger after the introduction of Twelver Shia as the state religion in the Safavid Empire in 1501.^[12]

In the introductions of Mokhtār-Nāma (مختارنامه) and Khosrow-Nāma (خسرونامه), `Attar lists the titles of further products of his pen:

"Manteq at-Ṭayr" ("The Conference of the Birds")

• Dīvān (دیوان)
• Asrār-Nāma (اسرار نامه)
• Maqāmāt-e Toyūr (= Manteq aṭ-Ṭayr; مقامات الطیور or منطق الطیر)
• Moṣībat-Nāma (مصیب نامه)
• Elāhī-Nāma (الهی نامه)
• Jawāher-Nāma (جواهر نامه)
• Šarḥ al-Qalb^[13] (شرح القلب)

He also states, in the introduction of the Mokhtār-Nāma, that he destroyed the Jawāher-Nāma' and the Šarḥ al-Qalb with his own hand.

Although the contemporary sources confirm only `Attar's authorship of the Dīvān and the Manteq al-Ṭayr, there are no grounds for doubting the authenticity of the Mokhtār-Nāma and Khosrow-Nāma and their prefaces.<sup>[1]</sup> One work is missing from these lists, namely the Tadhkerat al-Awlīya, which was probably omitted because it is a prose work; its attribution to `Attar is scarcely open to question. In its introduction `Attar mentions three other works of his, including one entitled Šarḥ al-Qalb, presumably the same that he destroyed. The nature of the other two, entitled Kašf al-Asrār and Ma'refat al-Nafs, remains unknown.^[14]

Manteq aṭ-Ṭayr[link]

Led by the hoopoe, the birds of the world set forth in search of their king, Simurgh. Their quest takes them through seven valleys in the first of which a hundred difficulties assail them. They undergo many trials as they try to free themselves of what is precious to them and change their state. Once successful and filled with longing, they ask for wine to dull the effects of dogma, belief, and unbelief on their lives. In the second valley, the birds give up reason for love and, with a thousand hearts to sacrifice, continue their quest for discovering the Simurgh. The third valley confounds the birds, especially when they discover that their worldly knowledge has become completely useless and their understanding has become ambivalent. There are different ways of crossing this Valley, and all birds do not fly alike. Understanding can be arrived at variously—some have found the Mihrab, others the idol.

The fourth valley is introduced as the valley of detachment, i.e., detachment from desire to possess and the wish to discover. The birds begin to feel that they have become part of a universe that is detached from their physical recognizable reality. In their new world, the planets are as minute as sparks of dust and elephants are not distinguishable from ants. It is not until they enter the fifth valley that they realize that unity and multiplicity are the same. And as they have become entities in a vacuum with no sense of eternity. More importantly, they realize that God is beyond unity, multiplicity, and eternity. Stepping into the sixth valley, the birds become astonished at the beauty of the Beloved. Experiencing extreme sadness and dejection, they feel that they know nothing, understand nothing. They are not even aware of themselves. Only thirty birds reach the abode of the Simurgh. But there is no Simurgh anywhere to see. Simurgh's chamberlain keeps them waiting for Simurgh long enough for the birds to figure out that they themselves are the si (thirty) murgh (bird). The seventh valley is the valley of deprivation, forgetfulness, dumbness, deafness, and death. The present and future lives of the thirty successful birds become shadows chased by the celestial Sun. And themselves, lost in the Sea of His existence, are the Simurgh.^[15]

`Attar's Seven Valleys of Love in the Manteq al-Tayr[link]

• The Valley of Quest
• The Valley of Love
• The Valley of Understanding
• The Valley of Independence and Detachment
• The Valley of Unity
• The Valley of Astonishment and Bewilderment
• The Valley of Deprivation and Death

Tadhkerat al-Awlīya[link]

Attar's only known prose work which he worked on throughout much of his life and which was available publicly before his death, is a biography of Muslim saints and mystics. In what is considered the most compelling entry in this book, `Attar relates the story of the execution of Hallaj, the mystic who had uttered the words "I am the Truth" in a state of ecstatic contemplation.

Ilahi-Nama[link]

The Ilahi-Nama (Persian: الهی نامه‎) is another famous poetic work of Attar consisting of 6500 verses. In terms of form and content, it has some similarities with Bird Parliament. The story is about a king who is confronted with the materialistic and worldly demands of his six sons. The King tries to show the temporary and senseless desires of his six son by retelling them a large number of spiritual stories. The first son asks for the daughter of the king of fairies (Pariyaan).

Mokhtar Nama[link]

Mokhtar-Nama (Persian: مختار نامه‎), a wide-ranging collection of quatrains (2088 in number). In the Mokhtar-nama, a coherent group of mystical and religious subjects is outlined (search for union, sense of uniqueness, distancing from the world, annihilation, amazement, pain, awareness of death, etc.), and an equally rich group of themes typical of lyrical poetry of erotic inspiration adopted by mystical literature (the torment of love, impossible union, beauty of the loved one, stereotypes of the love story as weakness, crying, separation).^[16]

Divan[link]

A miniature painting by Bihzad illustrating the funeral of the elderly Attar of Nishapur after he was held captive and killed by a Mongol invader.

The Divan (Persian: دیوان عطار‎) of Attar consists almost entirely of poems in the Ghazal ("lyric") form, as he collected his Ruba'i ("quatrains") in a separate work called the Mokhtar-nama. There are also some Qasida ("Odes"), but they amount to less than one-seventh of the Divan. His Qasidas expound upon mystical and ethical themes and moral precepts. They are sometimes modeled after Sanai. The Ghazals often seem from their outward vocabulary just to be love and wine songs with a predilection for libertine imagery, but generally imply spiritual experiences in the familiar symbolic language of classical Islamic Sufism.^[1] Attar's lyrics express the same ideas that are elaborated in his epics. His lyric poetry does not significantly differ from that of his narrative poetry, and the same may be said of the rhetoric and imagery.

Legacy[link]

Influence on Rumi[link]

`Attar is one of the most famous mystic poets of Iran. His works were the inspiration of Rumi and many other mystic poets. `Attar, along with Sanai were two of the greatest influences on Rumi in his Sufi views. Rumi has mentioned both of them with the highest esteem several times in his poetry. Rumi praises `Attar as follows:

Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love while we have barely turned down the first street.^[17]

As a pharmacist[link]

`Attar was a pen-name which he took for his occupation. `Attar means herbalist, druggist, perfumist or alchemist, and during his lifetime in Persia, much of medicine and drugs were based on herbs. Therefore, by profession he was similar to a modern-day town doctor and pharmacist.

In popular culture[link]

Several musical artists have albums or songs which share the name of his most famous work, Conference of the Birds, as well as the themes of enlightenment contained therein. Notably, jazz bassist David Holland's album, which was written as a metaphor for his own enlightenment, and Om's Conference of the Birds, which deals with extremely esoteric themes often connected with metaphors of flight, inward vision, destruction of self, and oneness with the cosmos

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• The Seven Valleys
• Sufism

References[link]

Sources[link]

• E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X.
• Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. 1968 OCLC 460598. ISBN 90-277-0143-1

External links[link]

• A few wikiquotes
• Attar in Encyclopedia Iranica by B. Reinert
• Attar, Farid ad-Din. A biography by Professor Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.
• `Attar's poem in Praise of Prophet Muhammad
• Poetry by `Attar
• Fifty Poems of `Attar. A Translation of 50 poems with the Persian on the facing page.
• Attar's works in original Persian at Ganjoor Persian Library
• Deewan-e-Attar in original Persian single pdf file uploaded by javed Hussen
• Panoramic Images of Attar Tombs