The ''Ilāhī-Nāma'' (Persian: الهی نامه, "Book of God" or "Book of the Divine") is a 12th century

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poem by the

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

-poet,

Attar of Nishapur Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; fa, ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn () and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a PersianRitter, H. ( ...

(c. 1145–1221). It is made of roughly 6500 verses and features anecdotal stories varying greatly in length, with some only 3 verses long and others around 400 verses long. Attar endeavored to open the "door to the divine treasure" with this poem and he believed that the final work has praised

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

in a manner beyond any poet before or after himself.

Background

Work on the poem began around the same time as his ''Moṣībat-nāma'', all while Attar worked in a popular pharmacy in

Nishapur Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...

Greater Khorasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

, during the age of the

Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...

. During his time as an

and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, Attar remained busy with and affected by the ailments of his customers and his ''Ilāhī-Nama'' reflects what he learned during his time at the pharmacy. Attar spent his later years in Nishapur, where he remained comfortably retired until he was violently executed as part of a massacre during the Mongol invasion of 1221.

Edward G. Browne Edward Granville Browne FBA (7 February 1862 – 5 January 1926) was a British Iranologist. He published numerous articles and books, mainly in the areas of history and literature. Life Browne was born in Stouts Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, En ...

, ''A Literary History of Persia from the Earliest Times Until Firdawsi'', 543 pp., Adamant Media Corporation, 2002, ,

The frame-story tells of a caliph who asks his six princes of their heart's desire. Each of them responds with temporal wants, including the daughter of the king of the fairies, the Jām-e jam, and the

ring of Solomon The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon ( he, חותם שלמה, '; ar, خاتم سليمان, ') is the legendary signet ring attributed to the Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near ...

. So the incredulous ruler tries to explain the absurdity of each desire before using spiritual stories to illuminate the deeper interpretation of each of the princes' wants; examples include how the princess represents the prince's own purified soul, the cup of Jamshid is the moment when state of

union with god In Christian theology, divinization ("divinization" may also refer to '' apotheosis'', lit. "making divine"), or theopoesis or theosis, is the transforming effect of divine grace, the spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. Although it l ...

turns into the mirror of reality, and the ring of Solomon is to be content with what one already has. The overall theme of the piece is that whatever one seeks is ultimately within oneself. Beyond the metaphysics of Sufism, the poem also exhibits Attar's secular knowledge as a man of medicine as he brings up an anecdote of a polymath's deft talent in removing a brain tumor. Aligned with his proficiency as an apothecary, Attar uses

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

to mean the transformation of the body into heart and of the heart into pain. The text also contains high praise for the

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

through Sufi-style mystical poetry, as Attar writes:

References

{{Reflist Persian poems Sufi literature Religious pluralism Religious syncretism in Asia Universalism Attar of Nishapur

Background

Contents

See also

References