Overview

Examines ?Attar's didactic sufi poetry in historical context from a rhetorical, recipient-centred perspective Provides an accessible introduction to the didactic mode in Persian literature Uncovers a poetics of didacticism that was never systemtised in the rhetorical or philosophical tradition Traces the implications of the 'medicinal metaphor', in which speech is likened to medicine Explores literary allegory's relationship to visionary experience Investigates how didactic texts evoke oral discourse and how ?Attar's frame-tale structures mediate between textuality and orality Much Persian sufi literature is explicitly didactic, aiming to instruct its readers and motivate pious reform. Moving beyond a recapitulation of religious content, The Poetics of Spiritual Instruction investigates the performative function of didactic poetry for mystical audiences, focusing in particular on the verse of Farid al-Din ?Attar, a central figure of the tradition best known for long narrative poems imbued with edifying sufi themes. Through a series of sensitive and creative readings, O'Malley shows how ?Attar uses frame-tales, metapoetic commentary, and allegories to think through his relationship with his readers, imagine and guide their reactions to his work, and perform his instructive authority. By teasing out this implicit, recipient-centred poetics, O'Malley recovers sufi didacticism's participatory, interactive character and shows how the act of reading was invested with ritual significance as a spiritual exercise aimed at the purification of the soul.

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9781474475112

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Reviews

"""The Poetics of Spiritual Instruction provides a new perspective on the didactic poetry of 'Attar of Nishabur by looking at the textualisation of the ritualistic aspects of these poems. A welcome addition to the growing body of works on 'Attar. "" -Fatemeh Keshavarz, University of Maryland"

Author Information

Austin O'Malley is the Roshan Institute Assistant Professor in Persian and Iranian Studies in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago, and his dissertation was cited as an honorable mention by the Foundation for Iranian Studies. His work has appeared in Iranian Studies, Journal of Persianate Studies, Al-?U??r al-Wus??: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists and Encyclopaedia Iranica.

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