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

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 str...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ayfer Summermatter
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Halil Ekşi 2016-02-01
Series:Spiritual Psychology and Counseling
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Online Access:http://spiritualpc.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016_0012.pdf
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Summary: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).
ISSN:2458-9675