Sound heard twice in "George" / MON 5-9-22 / Sufi poet thought to have coined the adage found at the starts etc / Once-standard feature not found in most newer vehicles / Empower a successor metaphorically

Constructor: August Miller

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday)

THEME: ATTAR (67A: Sufi poet thought to have coined the adage found at the starts of 19-, 27-, 45- and 52-Across) — the adage is: "This / Too / Shall / Pass":

Theme answers:

• THIS ONE'S ON ME (19A: "Have another round - my treat!")
• TOO BAD FOR YOU (27A: Gloating words of mock consolation)
• SHALL WE DANCE (45A: Invitation to a prospective waltz partner)
• PASS THE TORCH (52A: Empower a successor, metaphorically)

Word of the Day: ATTAR (67A) —

Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221; Persian: ابو حامد بن ابوبکر ابراهیم), better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn (فرید الدین) and ʿAṭṭār of Nishapur (عطار نیشاپوری, Attar means apothecary), was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism. He wrote a collection of lyrical poems and number of long poems in the philosophical tradition of Islamic mysticism, as well as a prose work with biographies and sayings of famous Muslim mystics. Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) and Ilāhī-Nāma(The Book of Divine) and Memorial of the Saints are among his best known works. (wikipedia)

Wow, this is pretty grim. The adage ... is so trite, so banal, I can't imagine wanting to build a puzzle around it. I assumed it was from the Bible, so I guess I learned something, but it seems pretty sad to reduce an important Sufi poet's work to this dumb adage. Also, "thought to have coined"? What the hell is that? He coined it or he didn't. And he didn't write in English, so ... it's all so weird. What's really truly weird is that ATTAR (as clued) was not just an answer in a Monday puzzle, but the answer: the revealer itself. I know damn well most of y'all have no damn idea who ATTAR is. Come on now, don't lie. It's OK. I took a Mystical & Erotic Poetry class in college (where ATTAR was on the syllabus) and then I went on to a Ph.D. program in medieval literature, where I read more Sufi poetry, and *I* barely knew who he was. Like, he's a Saturday answer, maybe. I'm happy enough to see him, but yikes, on a Monday, that's nuts. I feel bad for ATTAR that his big puzzle coming out party reduces him to this nothing "adage." It's just a first-words theme. Nothing interesting conceptually, nothing interesting in the revelation, just ... nothing interesting. Well, ATTAR is definitely interesting. Oddly placed, on a Monday, but interesting. Somewhat fun fact: ATTAR has appeared 58 times in the Shortz Era, and this is the very first time it's been clued as the poet (the other times it's always [Fragrant oil] or [Perfume from petals], something like that). The themers themselves are OK as standalone phrases. First two are good, second two are just OK. Longer non-themers also add some life to the grid, with PARTY BUS, ALL THAT, TRASH ART, and "ROBOCOP" being the standouts.