Attar of Nishapur

Attar of Nishapur
Bust of Attar at his mausoleum
Mystic Poet
Bornc.1145
Nishapur, Seljuk Empire
Diedc. 1221 (aged 7576)
Nishapur, Khwarezmian Empire
Resting placeMausoleum of Attar, Nishapur, Iran
Venerated inIslam, and especially by Sufis
InfluencesFerdowsi, Sanai, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Mansur Al-Hallaj, Abu-Sa'id Abul-Khayr, Bayazid Bastami
InfluencedRumi, Hafez, Jami, Ali-Shir Nava'i and many other later Sufi Poets
Tradition or genre
Mystic poetry
Major worksMemorial of the Saints
The Conference of the Birds

Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri (c.1145 – c. 1221; Persian: ابوحامد محمد عطار نیشابوری), better known by his pen-names Faridoddin (فریدالدین) and ʿAttar of Nishapur (عطار نیشاپوری, Attar means apothecary), was a poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism. He wrote a collection of lyrical poems and number of long poems in the philosophical tradition of Islamic mysticism, as well as a prose work with biographies and sayings of famous Muslim mystics. The Conference of the Birds, Book of the Divine, and Memorial of the Saints are among his best known works.