Abu Ḥamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221 CE), commonly known to the world by his pen name Fariduddin Attar, lived in Nishapur, and apparently practiced the profession of an apothecary (‘attar’) although little is known with certainty about his life. It is said that the suffering of the many people who came to be treated by him affected him deeply, and he eventually abandoned his trade and began to travel, visiting Sufi masters. He had a profound effect on later Sufis – his most well known work today is The Conference of the Birds – but he was little known outside of his native city until the 16th century.

Someone told Jesus-of-Mary –

You whose ceiling touches the sun
why do you not have yourself an abode?

Because I have not lost my mind, said Christ.
Whatever cannot accompany one to eternity
best be forgotten for it is not worthy of the human.

Rendition by Vraje Abramian