The Language of the Birds. Concerning the Unity of Almighty God. Part II

Introductory article, translation, historical and cultural commentary by Yulia E. Fedorova

Abstract

The article introduces an annotated translation of the second part of the Glorification of God “Concerning the Unity of Almighty God” (Fī tawḥīd-i Bārī Taʻālā) from the maṯnawī “The Language of the Birds” (Manṭiq al-ṭayr) by Farīd al-Dīn ʻAṭṭār Nīshābūrī. The greatest Persian Sufi poet of the late 12^th — early 13^th century ʻAṭṭār made the history as one of the most authoritative representatives of the tradition of the didactic poem (maṯnawī) in Persian literature. His main poem, “The Language of the Birds”, introduces the most concise statement of the Sufi method for understanding the Divine through understanding one’s own soul. The author focuses on the prologue to the poem and proves that ʻAṭṭār offers his own interpretation of the Unity and Oneness of God (tawḥīd-i Allāh) and recognizes the thesis of Divine transcendence and immanence. ʻAṭṭār discusses the selfhood of God and His attributes (ẕāt wa ṣifāt-i Allāh), asserts his incomprehensibility by reason, defines the place of man in the created world as the “viceroy” of God (ẖalīfa) and therefore capable of knowing God. The author comes to the conclusion, that for ʻAṭṭār achieving the ultimate goal of the path to God (ṭarīq) comes down to experiential knowledge of God. The presented translation allows us to identify the main features of the Sufi discourse of ʻAṭṭār with his own range of topics, questions and ways of understanding the objectives of Islamic doctrine and Sufi teaching.