Shaykh Farid ud-Din al-'Attar was born near Nishapur, a place famous as a centre of Sufi studies. It was while he was engaged in his work as a chemist ('attar) that the call came to him to follow the Sufi path. He travelled far and wide and for thirty-nine years occupied himself in studying the teaching and sayings of the Mashaykh. Then he went into seclusion and became absorbed in the contemplation of the Divine Essence. He spent most of his long life in literary work and wrote "The Memoirs of the Awliya'" (Tadhkirat al-Awliya') and many poems on mystical subjects.

He said what means:

"A Sufi devotee began to weep in the middle of the night and said: This is what I see the world to be: it is like a closed casket in which we are placed and in which, through our ignorance, we spend our time in folly. When Death opens the lid of the casket, each one who has wings takes his flight to Eternity, but that one who is without wings, remains in the casket, a prey to a thousand afflictions. Then give the wing of the mystic sense to the bird of spiritual desire: give a heart to reason, and ecstasy to the soul. Before the lid is taken away from this casket become a bird of the Way to Allah and develop your wings and your feathers. Nay, rather, burn your wings and your feathers and destroy yourself by fire, and so will you arrive at the Goal before all others."

He also said:

"The lover thinks nothing of his own life, for he who is a lover, whether he is an ascetic or a libertine, is prepared to sacrifice his life for the sake of love. If your spirit is at enmity with your soul, sacrifice your soul and you will be able to go on your way unhindered. If your soul is a distraction to you on the road, cast it aside, then look straight before you and give yourself to contemplation. If you are bidden to renounce your faith or to give up your life, cast away both: abandon your faith and sacrifice your life. If one who is ignorant of spiritual things should say that it is untrue that Love should be preferred to infidelity or faith, ask him: 'What has Love to do with infidelity or faith?' 'Do lovers concern themselves with their souls?'."

He also said:

"A lover sets fire to the whole harvest: he puts the knife to his own throat and pierces his own body. Torment and affliction are what pertain to Love. He who has his feet set firmly in the abode of Love renounces at once both infidelity and faith."

He taught about the Phoenix:

"The Phoenix is a wonderful bird, which is found in Industan. It has no mate, but dwells alone in solitude. Its beak is wonderfully hard and long, like a flute, containing holes to the number of nearly a hundred. Each of these holes gives forth a different tone and each tone reveals a different mystery. The art of music was taught to this bird by a philosopher, who became its friend. When the Phoenix utters these sounds, bird and fish are agitated thereby: all the wild beasts are reduced to silence and, by that entrancing music, are bereft of their senses.

"The Phoenix lives about a thousand years: it knows quite clearly the time of its death and when this knowledge is tearing at its heart it, it gathers fuel, a hundred trees or more and heaps them up in one spot. It hastens to place itself in the midst of the pyre and utters a hundred laments over itself. Then through each of those holes in its beak, it gives forth plaintive cries of woe, out of the depths of its spotless, soul, and as it utters its dying lament, it trembles like a leaf. At the sound of its music, all the birds of the air gather together, and the wild beasts come, attracted by the sound, and all assemble to be present at the death of the Phoenix, knowing that they must die. When the moment has come to draw its last breath, the Phoenix spreads out its tail and its feathers and thereby a lire is kindled and the flames spread swiftly lo the heaped-up wood and it blazes up with vigour. Soon both pyre and bird become a glowing red-hot mass. When the glowing charcoal is reduced to ashes and but one spark remains, (lien, from the ashes, a new Phoenix arises into life."

He also said:

"One night, the moths gathered together, tormented by the longing to unite themselves with the candle. They all said: 'We must find someone to give us news of that for which we long so earnestly.'

"One of the moths then went to a castle afar off and saw the light of a candle within. I le returned and told the others what he had seen and began to describe the candle as intelligently as he could. But the wise moth, who was the chief of their assembly, said: 'He has no real information to give us about the candle.' Another moth then visited the candle and passed close to the light, drawing near to it and touching the flames of that which he desired, with his wings: the heat of the candle drove him back and he was vanquished. He, too, came back and revealed something of the mystery, explaining something of what union with the candle meant, but the wise moth said to him: 'Your explanation is really worth no more than your comrade's was.'

"A third moth rose up, intoxicated with love, and threw himself violently into the candle's flame. He hurled himself forward and stretched out his antennae towards the fire. As he entered completely into its embrace, his members became glowing red like the flame itself. When the wise moth saw from afar that the candle had identified the moth with itself and had given the moth its own light, he said: 'This moth has fulfilled his desire, but he alone understands that to which he has attained. None other knows it and that is all.'

"In truth, it is the one who has lost all knowledge and all trace of his own existence who has, at the same time, found knowledge of the Beloved. So long as you will not ignore your own body and soul, how will you ever know the Object you love?"

He also said:

"If you are possessed of discernment joined with knowledge, seek the company of the dervishes and become one with them: associate with none but them. Love for the dervishes is the key which opens the door into Paradise and those who hate them are worthy of anathema. The dervish's garment is nothing but a patch robe, and he is not led astray by creaturely desires and passions. Until a man treads his carnal self underfoot, how can he find the way to the abode of Allah Most High ? The man who walks in the Path of Allah has no longing after fine palaces and fair gardens: in his heart is nothing but the pain of yearning love.

"Though you raise your palace as high as the heavens, yet in the end you will come to be buried under the earth, and though your strength and power were like those of Rustam, yet at last you will die like Bahrain, and be brought down to the tomb. Be not unmindful of Eternity and set not your heart upon the transient goods of this world. Be patient in the midst of the tribulations of this life and when things go well, give thanks to Allah Almighty."

He also said:

"O you who wander willfully away from the true Path, know that he who desires the palace of the King, which is more desirable than any palace here, has but to draw near to it. It is the habitation of the soul, which abides for ever; it is the goal of our desires, the resting-place of the heart, the seat of Truth itself. The Presence of Allah Most High is as a mighty Ocean and the Gardens of Paradise, with all their joys, are but as the least drop in it. He Who possesses the Ocean, possesses the drop also. All that is not the Ocean is mere vanity. Since you can find the way to the Ocean itself, why do you hasten to seek a single drop of dew? Can the one who shares in the secrets of the Sun dally with a mote in its beams? When a man has become one with the Whole, what concern has he with the part? What need of the members of his body, has one who has found his soul. If you, O man, have found your reality to be one with the Whole, then contemplate the Whole, seek out the Whole, become one with the Whole and choose for yourself the Whole."

He wrote among his poems:

The whole world is a market-place for Love,
For naught that is, from Love remains remote.
The Eternal Wisdom made all things in Love:
On Love they all depend, to Love all turn.
The earth, the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars
The centre of their orbit end in Love.
By love are all bewildered, stupefied,
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love. 
From each, a mystic silence Love demands, 
What do all seek so earnestly? 
"Tis Love. Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts, 
In Love no longer "Thou" and "I" exist, 
For self has passed away in the Beloved. 
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love, 
And in the temple of mine inmost soul 
Behold the Friend, Incomparable Love, 
He who would know the secret of both worlds 
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.

He also said:

"The Valley of Gnosis has neither beginning nor end. No other road is like the road which is hidden therein, nor any road there like any other road there, but the traveller in the body is other than the traveller in the spirit. Soul and body are for ever in a state of deficiency or perfection according to their strength and weakness. Therefore, of necessity, the road is revealed to each one according to his capacity for that revelation. On this road, trodden by Abraham, the friend of Allah, how could the feeble spider be a companion to the elephant? The progress of each will be in accordance with his spiritual state. Though the gnat were to fly with all its might, could it ever equal the perfection of the wind? Since, then, there are different ways of making the journey, no two birds will fly alike. Each finds a way of his own, on this road of esoteric knowledge, one by means of the Mihrab and another through the idols. When the Sun of Gnosis shines forth from the heaven above, on to this most blessed road, each is enlightened according to his capacity and finds his own place in the knowledge of the Truth.

"When that sun shines upon him, the dustbin of this world is changed for him into a rose-garden: the kernel is seen beneath the rind. No longer does the lover see any particle of himself, he sees only the Beloved: wheresoever he looks, he sees always His Face, in every atom lie beholds His dwelling-place. A hundred thousand mysteries are revealed to him from under the veil, as clearly as the sun. Yet thousands of men are lost eternally, for one who perfectly apprehends these mysteries. He must be perfect, who would succeed in the quest, who would plunge into this fathomless sea. If the joy of its secrets be revealed to him, every moment will renew his longing for it.

"Even if you should attain to the Throne of Glory, do not cease each moment to say: 'Is there more than this?' Plunge yourself into the Sea of Gnosis, or if you cannot do that, sprinkle the dust of the road upon your head. O you who remain asleep—and it is no matter for congratulation—why do you not put on mourning? If you have not attained to the joy of union with the Beloved, at least arise and put on signs of mourning for your separation from Him. If you have not looked upon the Beauty of the Beloved, arouse yourself, do not sit still, but seek out those mysteries destined for you, and if as yet you 
do not know them, seek them out in shame."

He also wrote

"Strive to acquire the mystic gnosis, so that you may learn to know Allah. He who truly knows Allah by contemplation, realises that Eternal Life means passing away from the personal self. Without this knowledge man has no real existence: he is not worthy to approach Allah, nor will he attain to the goal of his desires. If you really know your self and its desires, you will know Allah Most High and His gifts.

"He alone is the true gnostic who knows Allah, and whoever is without this knowledge is unfit to be counted among human beings. The gnostic has a heart full of sincere and constant love, all his actions are pure and without stain. The one to whom the gift of gnosis has been given finds no place in his heart save for Allah alone.

"To the gnostic, this world is of no concern, nay, more, he gives no thought to himself. Gnosis means that the gnostic passes away from himself into Allah. How can the one who does not completely pass away from self attain to this perfection? The gnostic is occupied neither with this world nor the next: he is not concerned willi any but his Lord. Because he has died altogether to himself, he is completely absorbed in the attainment of union with Allah.

He supplicated his Lord, be He glorified, by saying:

"Thou art fire, but Thy fire is veiled, for in all to which Thou hast joined Thyself, Thou art under a veil. Thou art the Breath of Life in both body and soul. Thou art the Water of Life to be found in every place. In every form Thou dost manifest Thyself, according to Thy will; even in the dust are Thy mysteries shown forth; Thou art the mine and dost show Thyself in its jewels. Thou, the Creator, art seen in the creatures, Spirit shining through gross matter.

"Thou art Allah in Absolute Unity and Thou dwellest here in body and soul, for Thou art the Divine Essence dwelling in the midst of each one of us. O Lord Most High, how glorious is the manifestation of Thy Light! Thou art the Sought and the Seeker: what remains to be said? Give me, I pray Thee, to drink from the cup of Immortality, for Thou art the Cup and the Wine and Cup -bearer.

"Since I am myself part of the Mystery of the Unity, happy will be that moment 
when soul shall be free from body and return unto its Home."

He sung the praises of hid Lord saying:

"In the deep waters of the ocean of annihilation I would seek to be, for though I aspire to the Sun, yet, since one is powerless to attain to Thy great height, I would aspire to sleep at Thy feet. Behold what grief I suffer without Thee! But now, since I have become nothing, I know that in the end I shall attain again to my desire. I said unto Thee: "I have passed away, as I was asked to do." Thou saidst unto me: "I will bring thee unto Eternal Life, as thou hast wished, for when thou dost see thyself as nothing, then will I give unto thee such an existence as thou hast desired."

"Every moment now I spend in loving adoration of Another than myself. Long ago I died to mine own existence and if now I live, it is in the existence of Another. I sacrificed all tranquillity and ease and renounced all hope of fame, so that I might attain to complete annihilation. I laid down my life and sacrificed my soul, and all mankind became as nothing to me. Now I have arisen, and I am free from all grief of soul, for I am set free from the world of Existence and Non-Existence and I dwell beyond both. I have taken my flight from phenomenal existence to non-entity.

"I am without body and soul and surely these are necessary to me. Without these, what am I? I am that which I was meant to be. Within myself, I have no knowledge of myself, for self-less I was meant to be. Happy is the one who has thus passed away from mortality, for passing away is the essence of abiding in immortality. This I know, that self-annihilation is a glorious thing, but that which I do not know is what I am yet to be."

He educated his students by saying:

"For you there is an ascent of the soul towards the Divine Light, therefore shall your heart and soul in the end attain to union with that Light. With your whole heart and soul, seek to regain Reality, nay, seek for Reality within your own heart, for Reality, in truth, is hidden within you. The heart is the dwelling-place of that which is the Essence of the universe, within the heart and soul is the very Essence of Allah. Like the saints, make a journey into your self; like the lovers of Allah, cast one glance within. As a lover now, in contemplation of the Beloved, be unveiled within and behold the Essence. Form is a veil to you and your heart is a veil. When the veil vanishes, you will become all light.

"Tear aside the veils of all you see in this world and you will find yourself apart in solitude with Allah. If you draw aside the veils of the stars and the spheres, you will see that all is one with the Essence of your own pure soul. If you will but tear aside the veil, you will become pure, as lie is pure. Cast aside the veil from existence and non-existence and you will see forthwith the true meaning of Allah's purpose. When you have cast aside the veil, you will see the Essence and all things will be shown forth within the Essence. If you draw aside the veil from the Face of the Beloved, all that is hidden will be made manifest and you will become one with Allah, for then will you be the very Essence of the Divine.

He said to his spiritual Son:

"Save Thee, I see nought in the two worlds, for in truth Thou alone dost exist in this world and in that. Prom everlasting Thou wast and changeless shalt be: unto eternity is Thy Being and shall be for ever. O Thou Who didst make manifest both time and place, Thou hast created both the soul of man and the universe wherein he dwells, and Thou dost cause the spheres to revolve and dost make the hearts of thousands to be filled with awe and amazement at Thy manifestation of Thyself.

"Now I am made one with Thee and from that Union my heart is consumed with rapture and my tongue is all bewildered. By union, I have been merged in the Unity, I am become altogether apart from all else. I am Thou and Thou art I— nay, not I, all is altogether Thou. I have passed away, "I" and "Thou" no more exist. We have become one and I have become altogether Thou.