Red Herring in the Words and Behaviors of Abū-Saīd Abul-Khayr

The reversal of affairs or inversion of meanings is the base of many ideas of Abū-Saīd Abul-Khayr in his book, Asrar al-Tawhid (The Mysteries of Unification). They can explain one of the most important reasons of attractiveness of this highly valuable mystical book. So, in this paper, first of all, some kinds of inversion of meanings are introduced, cases like preferability of wealth over poverty, the superiority of joy over retirement, superiority of tolerance over revenge and etc.. One of the main reasons for this kind of attitude is the adherence to intoxication (sokr) against sobriety (sahv) in Abū-Saīd's ideas. When he promotes moral values, explains his own states or others' moods and caters to the spiritual and material needs of all people, he uses literary language and has different approaches to the norms of his contemporaries. In this way, depending on the audience's position, Abū-Saīd chases a red herring. By using this method, he struggles with the Sufi pride of his age. In the present article, the research methodology is descriptive-analytical method. Also, new findings about Asrar al-Tawhid are taken into consideration.