learning the language of birds
Long before Ransom Riggs of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children wrote the fifth novel in this collection, also titled The Conference of the Birds, there was another older and unrelated work created.
Legend has it that Attar met Rumi when the future great mystic poet was a child. Rumi’s family was traveling west to stay ahead of the Mongols.
It is said that Attar held Rumi in his arms, bounced him on his lap, and predicted his greatness. Rumi went on to become a beloved Sufi poet with devoted fans and followers.
The Conference of the Birds consists of a total of 4,724 couplets, including the prologue and the epilogue. The story begins with the birds of the world gathering together to seek a sovereign.
The wisest of them, the hoopoe, suggests they undertake a journey of enlightenment to the court of the great Simorgh, a mysterious bird who dwells in Mount Qaf, a mythical mountain that wraps around the world.
The birds elect the hoopoe as their leader for the quest. At the start, each bird presents an elaborate excuse for not being able to make the journey, but the wise hoopoe addresses their many hesitations, complaints, fears, vanities, and questions.
Like the birds of this story, we may take flight together, but the journey itself will be different for each of us. Attar tells us that truth is not static, and that we each tread a path according to our own capacity. It evolves as we evolve.
Those who are trapped within their own dogma, clinging to hardened beliefs or faith, are deprived of the journey toward the unfathomable Divine, which Attar calls the Great Ocean. ~ Sholeh Wolpé
Attar’s death and life are subject to speculation as few records remain. He is known to have lived and died a violent death in the massacre inflicted by Genghis Khan and the Mongol army on the city of Nishapur in 1221, when he was seventy years old. We are lucky to have his work live on to inspire us.
Originally published at http://woaworld.blogspot.com.
