Attar of Nishapur in Persia, much of medicine and drugs were based on herbs. Therefore, by profession he was similar to a modern-day town doctor and pharmacist. Rose oil means attar. Several musical artists have albums or songs which share the name of his most famous work, "Conference of the Birds", as well as the themes of enlightenment contained therein. Notably, jazz bassist David Holland's album, which was written as a metaphor for his own enlightenment, and Om's Conference of the Birds, which deals with extremely esoteric themes often connected with metaphors of flight, inward vision, destruction of self, and oneness with the
Layla Al-Attar that she saw a painting by Al-Attar in an art gallery and was curious about it. This prompted her to write the play, with the Al-Attar character central in it however the character is fictional and does not depict any relation to The real Layla Al Attar Layla Al-Attar Layla Al-Attar (; May 7, 1944 - June 27, 1993) was an accomplished Iraqi artist and painter who became the Director of the Iraqi National Art Museum. Layla Attar graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1965, and was amongst the first women graduates from that program. She