Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Attar of Nishapur, formally Abū Hamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm NULL

Persian Sufi Poet

"Meditation is a mirror which reveals to you your virtues and your vices."

"Whoever fears to be alone and craves men’s society is far from salvation."

"A significant life is, in some sense, permanent; it makes a permanent difference to the world – it leaves traces."

"Do not imagine that the journey is short; one must have the heart of a lion to follow this unusual road, for it is very long and the sea is deep. One plods along in a state of amazement, sometimes smiling sometimes weeping. As for me, I shall be happy to discover even a trace of Him. That would indeed be something, but to live without Him would be a reproach. A man must not keep his soul from the beloved but must be in a fitting state to lead his soul to the court of the King."