Attar's Portrait in the Introduction of Mantiqut-Tair

Mantiqut-Tair, a description of human love for self-scrutiny and meeting with God, is the most significant mystical work of Attar in the form of allegory of birds in search of Simurgh or phoenix. The contradictory presence of the author as a mystic and a historian at the beginning of the book is astonishing. Although the introduction is short and distinct from the mystical text, it is of great importance owing to the interaction of mysticism and history. The historian tries to discover the truth based on the valid documentations and through a retrospective look into the past and carefully analyzing the accuracy of historical quotes and reviews whereas the mystic avoids politics and analysis. In general, history is independent of mysticism but it is the best support for the mystic. Attar is a creative mystic in the sense of innovating mystical symbols and sometimes creating historical characters out of mystical symbols, while he is oblivious to the judgment of history. Symbolizing the historical figures and disregarding the historical documentations, in addition to invalidating his judgment of the individuals, have other outcomes, including a crisis of reasoning and a rejection of mystical principles that Attar himself adheres to. This study is conducted to prove this claim in the introduction of Mantiqut-Tair.