Attar's Interaction and Confrontation with the Principles of Philosophical Mysticism

This research investigates and analyzes Attar's constructive interactions and confrontations with the principles of philosophical mysticism and reveals the effect of this constructive interaction and confrontation in the transformation of one-dimensional monastic mysticism into dynamic discoursal and rational mysticism. The research problem addressed by this study is which parts of the approaches, methods and instruments of Ibn Sina's (Avicenna’s) philosophical mysticism have been adopted by Attar in framing the structure and symbolic-allegorical content of his three mystical Masnavis and what interactions or confrontations he has had with the principles of philosophical mysticism. This analytic-argumentative library research was conducted via close study of rational and mystical concepts in the content of the related texts and the reasoning and deductions were based on logical analysis. The purpose of this research is to identify Attar's dual approaches to the principles and content of Avicenna's Risalat-ut-Tayr and the theory of Grace and Intellect—as the basics of philosophical mysticism—and to distinguish their useful and harmful aspects. It also aims to identify Attar's approach in interacting with harmful aspects and optimizing or modifying them to reduce their harms. The significance of the study is to critique Attar's performance in optimal use of the principles of philosophical mysticism, methods, and instruments for developing and justifying the desired levels of his mystical manner. The findings of this study can aid to better understand Attar's approach to mysticism and the impact of his Masnavis on elevating the methods and instruments of mystical recognition.