The Stages of Suluk from the Perspectives of Attar and Shabestari; Based on Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr and Gulshan-i Raz

Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) and Gulshan-i Raz (Rose Garden of Secrets), written about a century apart, are based on suluk (mystical journey). The authors of these two books consider mystical path (tariqat) as a difficult path; Farid ud-Din Attar in Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr calls it "valley" and Mahmud Shabestari in Gulshan-i Raz speaks about "obstacles". Gulshan-i Raz speaks about four obstacles to suluk and, in Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr, Attar believes in seven valleys: request, love, knowledge, detachment, Unity, wonderment and finally poverty and annihilation. If the stages of suluk put forth by these two mystics are analyzed based on seven valleys in Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr and forty stages of suluk (as mentioned by the Muslim mystics), it becomes clear that Shabestari puts forth "repentance" and not " request" as the first stage of suluk. In contrast to Attar, Shabestari proposes concepts for stages of "love" and "Unity (tohid)" which are accompanied by shaṭḥiyyāt and tamat (ecstatic sayings), but Attar considers wonderment as necessary for Unity. The fourth valley in Attar’s suluk, “detachment”, like the stages of love (mohabbat), patience (sabr), exertion (jahd), worship (ibadat), and obedience to God (taslim), is not present in Shabestari’s poetry. Similarly, the stages of piety (vara), sincerity (ikhlas), and saintship (vilayat) are present in Shabestari’s poetry while they are nowhere to be seen in Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr. The two poets cite 27 common stages and both of them do not mention a number of stages. In this descriptive-analytical study, seven valleys of Attar and the forty stages of suluk, as basis of the research, are evaluated in Manṭiq uṭ-Ṭayr and Gulshan-i Raz, and common and controversial concepts and terms are outlined in them.