Wailings of Attar

Abstract

Ebu Hamid Fariduddin Muhammed b., known with the pseudonyms Farid and Attar. Ebi Bekr Ibrahim-i Nishaburi (d. 618/1221) is one of the great Iranian poets and Sufis. Attar wrote many works in verse and prose, and many of these works were translated into our language at various times. In the Anatolian geography, he became one of the names that were read with admiration and taken as an example in terms of subject, content and style, and whose works were written in parallel. Mantıku’t-tayr, Tezkiretu’l-evliya, Esrarname, Muhtarname, İlahiname, Pendname are among his translated works. His diwan, which consists of odes, ghazals and terci, has not yet been translated into Turkish. Especially in his ghazals, he expressed the main issues of Sufism, the idea of unity, absolute existence, the desire to stay away from the material world, the troubles encountered on the way to reunion, the states of love and infatuation necessary for the spiritual journey, and the longing for the beloved in an enthusiastic and lively style. Symbolic elements stand out in his poems, which bear traces of Sufi ideas. It literally draws the reader a picture of its own world of meaning with various symbols and imaginary elements. In this context, Attar tried to facilitate his expression by concretizing his own transcendental thoughts and mystical views, and he succeeded. He embellished his wide imagination with the elegance of his words and taste of language.

The communication between the lover and the beloved, the feelings they have for each other, the fact that the lover is always miserable, the beloved acts insensitive and cruel, and the lover does not give up on his love despite all the indifference and suffering of the beloved are among the subjects that Attar frequently covers in his ghazals.

In this study, in Fariduddin Attar’s ghazals, the concepts of sighing and wailing, which mean an expression of the trouble of the lover who suffers in constant agony, which is one of the most distinctive features of the states of love, will be examined. These concepts, which are the subject of examination, were reached by examining the ghazals in the divan one by one. In the study, the relevant couplets, not all of the ghazals containing the expressions “ah” and “wailing”, were shown as witnesses. During the translation, not only the relevant couplet but also the entire ghazal was examined in order to achieve the correct translation and not to stray from the context. It focused on how often and how these expressions were used. Feridüddîn Attâr uses the “ah” exclamation in different forms by combining various words, sometimes verbs and sometimes nouns; It has been determined that he uses the concept of wailing sometimes independently and sometimes by combining it with various verbs. It has been seen that both expressions were written in the language of a lover who was crying and sighing because of his troubles due to the suffering from his beloved, the pain of being separated from his beloved, and the agony of not being able to reciprocate his love. He used these sighs, wails and wailings as a normal reflection of the state of love.

Citation: Kopuz Çetinkaya, Fatma (2025). “Wailings of Attar”, Erdem, December, Issue:89, pp. 159-186

No artificial intelligence-based tools or applications were used in the preparation of this study. All content has been produced by myself in accordance with scientific research methods and academic ethical principles.

The study does not require ethics committee approval, and the data used were obtained through a literature review / published sources. It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were followed during the preparation of the study and that ali referenced works are listed in the bibliography.

erdemdergisi@akmb.gov.tr

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A family member of this article’s author is among the journal’s current editorial team. However, the aforementioned editor started his duties with the decision numbered 28/11 of the editorial board dated 16.12.2025. Because the aforementioned editor was not part of the journal’s editorial team during the submission and acceptance period of the article, he was not involved in any stage of the article’s development. Therefore, there is no issue that would lead to a conflict of interest.