TEHRAN – A Spanish version of “Secrets of God’s Mystical Oneness” (“Asrar al-Tawhid”), a biography of Persian mystic and poet Abu Sa‘id ibn Abul-Khayr (967-1049 CE) by Muhammad ibn Munavvar, was discussed during a session at the Madrid branch of Casa Asia on Thursday.

In a brief speech, the director of Casa Asia in Madrid, Teresa Gutiérrez del Álamo, expressed her thanks to the Iranian cultural attaché’s office over its collaboration on publishing the book in Spain.

She also said that the Spanish version of book, which was published in 2013, has helped to ease the shortage of Persian classical works in the country and added, “All scholars were influenced by Abu Sa‘id ibn Abul-Khayr after the book was authored.”

Ibn Monavvar, one of Abul-Khayr’s grandsons, wrote the book 130 years after his death.

Alfred G. Kavanagh, president of the Spanish Society of Iranology (SEI) also delivered a speech, calling the book one of the most important works of Persian prose literature.

“This book provides a close look at how a Sufi lives and how the Khorasan-born Sufis interact,” he said.

The Spanish version of the book was translated by Spanish scholar Joaquin Rodriguez Vargas.

To date, Ibn Munavvar’s book has also been translated into Arabic, French, English, Russian and Bosnian.

An English translation of the book by John O’Kane was published by Mazda Peblishers, Inc. in 1992.

MMS/YAW

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