The “Other” in Attar’s Tazkirat al-Awliya
Subject Areas : Islamic MysticismMohammad Reza Haji Agha Babaei 1
1 - Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University
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Abstract :
One of the important aspects of studying any narrative text is the presence of other (non-main) influential characters and factors in the text, collectively referred to as the Other. The concept of the Other is broad and includes human characters and non-human elements such as nature or supernatural issues. Attar's Tazkirat al-Awliya is one of the most prominent mystical texts in which the biographies of mystics and their experiences and virtues are presented. Studying this book from the point of view of the concept of the Other, we realize that an āref (mystic) is confronted with various factors in his mystical journey, and this is what leads to the mystic's existential transcendence and a better understanding of his "self". In the book, the Other appears in the form of God, other mystics, ordinary people, Satan and the mystic's own ego, animals, and objects, each of which, in a special way, seeks to inform the mystic or inform others of his position. From this point of view, what we understand in the study of Tazkirat al-Awliya that although the Other stands in opposition to the mystic’s self, we do not witness any conflict between the mystic and the Other; rather, all these confrontational relationships make the mystic aware of his position, and the Other assumes a guiding function.
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