STORIES ABOUT SUFI DEVOTEES IN THE CONTEXT OF PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS OF FARID AL-DIN ‘ATTAR

Abstract

The article deals with investigation of a number of stories about the conversations between Rabi‘ a al-‘Adawiya and Hasan al-Basri, representatives of the early mystical and ascetic trend in Islam. These stories are gathered in poems of the major Persian poet and Sufi thinker of XII — XIII centuries Farid ad-Din ‘Attar (“The Language of the Birds”, “The Divine Book”) and anthology “Memorial of God’s Friends”). The article shows, that Rabi‘a was consistently developing the idea, that it is impossible to the Sufi to attain higher moral qualities or true knowledge, if he tries to build a relationship with God striving for his own posthumous felicity and award. That is why in his poems and anthology, ‘Attar affi rms that Rabi‘a’s highest spiritual qualities and divine knowledge are fruit of her pure love to God, and not of her desire for the happy afterlife. The conversations between Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiya and Hasan al-Basri represent a very rare occurrence in Islamic culture, when a woman, (because of her righteousness and full concentration on love to God), could become a spiritual guide for great Sufi men at that time. Later her life was considered by the Sufi traditionas an example to be followed for those who had chosen the Sufi path of God’s knowledge. The article examines the most important aspects of Rabi‘ a’s teachings in the context of the philosophical views of ‘Attar. The certain aspects of Rabi‘a’s Sufi conversation are discussion of Sufi virtues, of intuitive knowledge and human love for God. In Rabi‘a’s teachings the love of God and recognition of His unity and uniqueness (tawhid) appears as the unique way to the reaching the inner spiritual integrity.