The Universal Implications of Attar for the Challenges of Contemporary Human Being

One of the epistemological questions in the field of literature is the quality of synchronic relationship of literary discourse with philosophical schools of thoughts and corresponding social events on the one hand and its diachronic relationship with other times especially with the present day literature on the other. It is a topic that warrants investigation because of the challenges the present day human being is struggling with namely; lack of spirituality and nihilism, western racism, profiteering, deviation from ethics and magnanimity, extreme individualism, etc. Undoubtedly the essence of Attar’s works especially his masterpiece Manteq-o-Tair, having a mystical culture and moving beyond ethnocentrism and focusing upon limpid human emotions and keeping down personal and social emotions, has given his works a cosmological/universal function and made him a figure not limited to any specific time and place. And that’s why his thoughts have been applied across time and have got an incremental relationship with the present time. The present study employing a descriptive- analytic and hermeneutic approach intends to explore and clarify Attar views which could serve as a response to the spiritual challenges and conflicts encountered by the contemporary humans. In short, the research has revealed that from Attar’s point of view ignoring self knowledge and turning a deaf ear to the call of the instinct has led the man to complex challenges and no considering the spiritual and divine aspects of the human existence and intuitive knowledge versus factual knowledge has paved the way for disunity and violence.