The Conference of the Birds

The Conference of the Birds
By: Farid ud-din Attar
Translation and introduction by: Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis
Published by: Penguin Classics

The book "Conference of the Birds' highlights the disciplines of life which are required by a Sufi to reach the stage of baqa means everlastingness. This poem starts with a allegoric form in which birds of the world were told by Hoopoe that they have a king - The Simorgh - but he lives far away and to reach him they have to travel seven valleys. Those valleys are Search, Love, Mystic Apprehension (understanding), Detachment/Independence, Unity, Bewilderness (confusion) and Fulfillment in Annihilation (destroying lower self to achieve higher and complete life).

Initially birds were very excited to go in search of Simorgh but when they realize how difficult the journey would be they started to make excuses. Hoopoe answers those excuses with beautiful small stories.

In this poem birds are identified by their species and each specie clearly indicates a human type. Such as Nightingale is a lover, the Finch is the coward etc. Each of them makes excuses according to their type, for not going on the journey. Once the journey began, the birds started asking questions about the path or the way and why a certain way was taken; just like a beginner asks question to the Sheikh in the spiritual search.

All the excuses which the birds initially used for not going on the journey are very close to human excuses for not leaving material luxuries for the sake of the soul. For example, Nightingale says she loves roses and roses love him. Anyways, Nightingales are not very strong and cannot take the pains of travelling very far in the search of Simorgh; and besides that if he will leave the roses and not sing for them then how roses will blossom. Hoopoe answered this question and said to him that the rose's superficial love is not real. Rose does not love you.

"...Forget the rose's blush and blush for shame.
Each spring she laughs, not for you, as you say,
But at you - and has faded in a day."

Then to support his answer he says the story of a dervish and a princess. There was a beautiful princess and anyone who saw her once would fall in love with her. A dervish accidentally saw her while she was giving bread to the poor. He was in line to recieve a piece of bread from her. When she came closer he almost dropped the plate in nervousness. Princess smiled when she saw that and he dervish thought that she is also in love with him. He waited outside her palace gate for seven years and cried every day to see her again. Everybody told him to leave the gate and move forward for whatever he thought was not true. He, however, stayed there and kept on crying. Finally the servant of princess got tired and decided to kill him. Princess felt sorry for him and came out and told the dervish to go away otherwise her men will kill him. He replied that he would give away his life for her love. Princess was surprised to hear that and asked who told him that she loved him. "You and I have no match" she said. The dervish said that when she gave him the bread that day she smiled at him. Princess responded:

""Poor fool, I smiled from pity, almost ridicule - your ignorance provoked that smile." She spoke and vanished like a wisp of strengthless smoke."

There were plenty of such stories. Another story which I liked about obedience is when birds were convinced to go for the search of Simorgh and they accepted Hoopoe as their guide by a bird saying that "I am ignorant of right and wrong. I'll wait for any orders that you stipulate. Whatever you command I'll gladly do, delighted to submit myself to you."

Hoopoe was happy to take the birds under his guidance and promised to give a refuge and lead the way.

Then he told the story of a king who stopped at the prison gates; The king was returning to his capital and his subjects prepared a festival to pay him the homage. Whole towns participated in festivities. Prisoners who were in chains (in the jails) had nothing to decorate so they came near the gate with the chained hands and racked limbs and their ruined lives, to greet the king. The king stopped and met them and told them that they are free and would be paid in gold. The courtier asked the king that the whole town prepared to pay him homage with beautiful decorations and dances and the king did not stop to reward them, what was so special in those prisoners that he chose to reward them. The king answered that the rest of the people were like rowdy children who were playing with new toys and participating in festivities to please themselves and the king whereas the prisoners came near the gate purely to pay homage to the king. The king said: "I see the obedience here. They bow to my commands through good and ill. They know they will die in prison but they still took the pain to come near the gate to pay me the homage. So I will use my authority to reward their wisdom by giving them the freedom and paradise."

This book is definitely worth a read. The translators have done well in retaining the poetic expressions of Attar's work.