Some of the Symmetrical Patterns in Attār's Works

Although we have access to a number of critical editions of Attār's works, there still remain some problematic and ambiguous points in his works that cannot be clarified merely based on the codicological details. To elucidate such matters, it is indispensable to analyze closely the different aspects of Attār's style based on the authentic documents to discover the general patterns. In this study, we deal with some of the symmetrical patterns recurring throughout all the layers (from the verses to the whole work) of Attār's original poems. These patterns are classified into four main groups including repetition, parallelism, congruency, and a particular recurrent structure. The study of these symmetrical patterns, combined with the other stylistic and codicological details, can help us with evaluating the authenticity of some of the confusing parts in Attār's works.