Farid ud-Din Attar (c. 1145 – c. 1221), better known as Attar of Nishapur, was a Persian poet, hagiographer, and theoretician of Sufism who ranks with Rumi and Hafiz. Little is known of the details of his life. He was the son of a prosperous chemist, received an excellent education, and became a pharmacist who attended a large number of customers.  He eventually left his profession to travel widely in the Orient and returned to promote Sufi ideas. His poetry was little known during his life, and only achieved recognition later in the 15^th century.  Nevertheless, he was revered by Rumi, who wrote that “Attar has traversed the seven cities of Love. We are still at the turn of one street.” His work is thought to represent the whole evolution of the Sufi movement and is valued as sources on the hagiography and phenomenology of Sufism. Attar died in a massacre by Mongols invading Nishapur in April 1221. He is memorialized by a mausoleum in Nishapur constructed in the 16^th century.