Attar of Nishapur’s Seven Valleys and the Stages of Human Cravings from a Psychological Perspective

Author/s: Ayfer Summermatter

DOI: 10.12738/spc.2016.2.0012 

Year: 2016 Vol: 1 Number: 2

Abstract

This article examines the search for Truth and the journey of existence as explained metaphorically in the works of Farid ud-Din Attar by blending Sufi understanding and a contemporary psychological perspective. It attempts to associate and review people’s characteristics, life styles, cognitive structures, existential journeys, and processes of self-realization through the Sufi views in Attar’s stories. The Valleys of Quest, Love, Understanding, Independence and Detachment, Unity, Astonishment and Bewilderment, and Deprivation and Death that occur in Mantiq al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds) are basically accepted through interpretation as the stages of human desires along with the characteristics that are required to transition from these valleys. This research also benefitted by interpreting other works by Attar, the Ilahi- Nama (Book of God) and Asrar-Nama (Book of Mysteries).

Keywords
Attar, The seven valleys, Stages of human desire, Psychological examination, Personality, Self-development