Farid ud-Din Attar

Timeline

1. c. 1145–1180Nishapur · KhurasanBorn or living in Nishapur, a major city of Khurasan, his family dealt in spices and medicines—'Attar' means spice merchant; in youth he traveled widely in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, meeting Sufi practitioners.
2. 1180–1210Nishapur · KhurasanHe gave up trade for Sufi practice and writing, producing the Book of Saints, the Divine Book, and the allegorical poem Conference of the Birds, using symbol and narrative to expound purification of the soul, self-effacement and the search for truth, becoming a classic of Persian Sufi literature.
3. 1210–1221Nishapur · IranIn later years he continued writing and teaching in Nishapur and, according to tradition, met the young Rumi; in 1221 Jalal al-Din's forces stormed, massacred and plundered Nishapur, and traditional accounts hold that Attar died in the fighting or was captured and killed, at ages variously given as about seventy to over a hundred.