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The Philosophical Context of F. ‘Attar’s Poems

https://doi.org/10.22311/2074-1529-2020-16-1-179-190

Abstract

The author of this article wanted to define a special approach to the problem of how to know God, which developed in the poems of Farid al-Din ‘Attar (1145/46–1221). She based on a comparative analysis of the ‘Attar’s philosophical views with the ideas of the thinkers of Falsafa, Sufism and Isma‘ilism. The author carefully analyzed the prologue named “Concerning the Unity of God” of ‘Attar’s major poem “The Language of the Birds” (Mantiq al-tayr). In this prologue ‘Attar deals with theme of “God’s incomparability”, which means the fundamental impossibility of description of God through various categorical combination. The author used the methods of historical and philosophical reconstruction, philological and textological analysis of the text. Particular attention in this article was given to comparison of the theories of the knowledge of God, developed by Ibn Sina, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Mahmud Shabistari, with ‘Attar’s philosophical ideas. The novelty of the research is: for the first time in Russian philosophical Iranian studies ‘Attar’s philosophical views was considered in the context of the general tradition of Arab-Muslim philosophy.

About the Author

Yu. E. Fedorova
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Yulia E. FEDOROVA, Cand. Sci. (Philos.), research fellow, Institute of Philosophy

Bld. 1, 12, Goncharnaya Str., Moscow, 109240



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Review

For citations:


Fedorova Yu.E. The Philosophical Context of F. ‘Attar’s Poems. Islam in the modern world. 2020;16(1):179-190. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22311/2074-1529-2020-16-1-179-190

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ISSN 2074-1529 (Print)
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