Chista Yasrebi: To know Attar is to know immortality

She has decided to direct the play "Last Minute Man" based on three days in the life of Attar Neishabouri, a famous Iranian poet and mystic.

Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, in full Farīd al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ʿAṭṭār, also called Farīd al-Dīn Abū Ḥamīd Muḥammad, (born 1142?, Nīshāpūr, Iran—died c. 1220, Nīshāpūr), Persian Muslim poet who was one of the greatest Sufi (mystical) writers and thinkers, composing at least 45,000 distichs (couplets) and many brilliant prose works.

                                                                  

As a young man Farīd al-Dīn traveled widely, visiting Egypt, Syria, Arabia, India, and Central Asia. He finally settled in his native town, Nīshāpūr, in northeastern Iran, where he spent many years collecting the verses and sayings of famous Sufis. His name, ʿAṭṭār, which literally means a perfumer or apothecary, may indicate that he, his father, or his grandfather practiced that trade. There is much controversy among scholars concerning the exact details of his life and death as well as the authenticity of many of the literary works attributed to him.

 

Chista Yasrebi started her work in the field of performing arts in the 80s and wrote and directed works such as "Friday at Sunset", "Dark Room", "A Woman for Forever", "Burning Red", "Night" and….

She said about Attar’s life: I had previously dealt with Attar's life in plays such as "Moonlight Women, Sunny Men", "Love Bird" and "Rabia". But my great interest in this great poet and mystic made me start writing a play based on his biography three years ago with the suggestion of a publisher.

She continued: Unfortunately, little information is available about the life of him. In fact, we have more information available from poets who lived centuries before him, but unfortunately there are few and limited sources about Attar. Of course, I found new discoveries about his life in my investigation and research.

This director explained about the reason for choosing the title of his play: "Attar was an unpredictable genius with a very high intuition. I named the play "The Man of the Last Minute" because he always made the right decisions at the last moment, contrary to what people thought.

She believed that knowing Attar is knowing immortality: "Attar was not looking for the world, but the world was looking for him, and it is a pity that we die without knowing such a character. I used to read his poems to write a play, but now I have fallen in love with his path.