From Simorgh's interview to political and social critic (A look at Attar's political and social thoughts)

There is no dubt that Attar is an exception in Iranian and Islamic mysticism. Creation of his valuable work “manteqotteir”, “Elahi-nameh” and “Mosibat-nameh” is sufficient evidence for Attar’s greatness of thought as well as his highness of status in mysticism and Su ism. Meanwhile, his brilliance in one field, i. e. mysticism and Sufism, has induced a lack of attention to his thoughts in other areas one of which is his political and social thoughts. This paper aims to explain Attar’s social and political thoughts through analyzing some of his poems. The present study, unlike some researchers who believe that Sufi thinking has led to stagnation of thoughts in   Iran, shows that not only Sufism has not induced degeneration in Iranian society, but also Sufi works, including those of Attar, have been the political language of their era and evoke dynamism, rather than stagnation. In fact, after idealistic thoughts of Early Ages dwindled, political and social criticisms substituted them, and, Sufi works were a great reflection of such critical thoughts in the era, Attar’s works being a great instance of them.