Qalandariyyan Themes in Attar's Lyric Verses

Sometimes، we confront paradoxes in Sofi texts; that is، these texts bear some experiences and moral messages، on the one hand، and blame them pretentiously، on the other hand. The origin of this paradox is sought in khalandariyye themes not negating religion، morality، and so on. This study intends to find these kinds of themes in lyric verses of Faridoddin Attar Neyshaburi، the prominent gnostic of the 7th century AH. The present study tries to sort these lyric verses، on the basis of the usage of kalandariyyan themes and thoughts and investigate the appearance and customs of the Kalandars in Attar’s lyrics. Kalandariyye themes include: showing rebellion and disobedience، attending defamed places، drinking wine، neglecting the name and shame، pretending to do non-Islamic rituals، mocking at the Sofis and the devouts، neglecting the religion، rejecting the symbols of the religion and Sofism and staying beyond the faith and infidelity. In his lyric verses، Attar has little reference to Kalandars’ superficial customs and rituals، but he focuses on the basis of Kalandars’ thoughts، such as abandoning the habitual religion. In Attar’s lyrics، Kalandar is an ideal personality who has traversed the highest levels of conduct.