Professors Nicholas Boylston and Cyrus Zargar explore the striking  poetry of ‘Attar of Nishapur, an seminal Persian Sufi poet and master of the Persian Masnavi (epic in rhymed-couplets) genre. His Conference of the Birds is a masterpiece of Sufi literature, and it and ‘Attar’s other poetic works, including his ghazals, exerted a strong influence on later Sufi poets, especially Rumi. Links and Further Reading/Listening: “Attar’s “Conference of the Birds” – The Greatest Sufi Masterpiece?” Let’s Talk Religion . Dick Davis and Afkham Darbandi  , The Conference of the Birds (London: Penguin Classics, 1984) . Zargar, Cyrus, Religion of Love: Sufism […]