‘Warrior fighting two wars’: Life of ‘Abdallah ibn al-Mubarak in the ‘Attar’s Memorial of God’s Friends

Abstract

The publication presents the first translation into Russian of the 15th chapter from the hagiographic collection by Farid ad-Din ʻAttar (d. ca. 1221 AD) Memorial of God’s friends (Taẕkiratu’l-awliyā) originally written in Persian. The chapter deals with biography, exploits and sayings of ʻAbdallah b. al-Mubarak of Khorasan, a recognized collector and transmitter of hadith, a renown ascetic, successful merchant, and severe warrior, but first of all a devoted and true worshiper (ʻābid) of God. The translation has been completed from the critical edition by Muhammad Esteʻlami. It is introduced by short preface, which provides basic information on Ibn Mubarak’s life and his place in the tradition of Muslim piety. The translation is supplied with historical and linguistic commentary. The tranlator stresses the fact that although being constructed on Arabic sources the actual narrative created by ʻAttar fits into the framework of Iranian hagiography. In describing the life and deeds of ʻAbdallah b. al-Mubarak of Khorasan ʻAttar created an Iranian version of the “Sufi prototype”. He emphasized features, such as humility, self-abasement, miracle-working, and participation in miraculous events.