Poetry
The Conference of the Birds
منطقالطیر
Attar of Nishapur · 1177
Synopsis
The birds of the world, who have no king, gather to choose one. The hoopoe, the wisest among them, tells them that they do have one, the Simorgh, who dwells far away on Mount Qaf, and urges them to set out in search of him. One after another, the nightingale in love with the rose, the peacock, the duck, the falcon and many others find excuses not to leave what they love; the hoopoe answers them with anecdotes and parables, and describes the seven valleys they will have to cross.
Context
The poem runs to some four thousand seven hundred rhymed couplets. Its Persian title, the language of the birds, refers to a verse of the Qur'an in which Solomon says he received knowledge of it. The frame narrative is constantly interrupted by brief anecdotes that serve as examples, and the hoopoe has often been read as the author's double. The first French translation, in prose, appeared in 1863 at the Imprimerie nationale, by Joseph Héliodore Garcin de Tassy; Leili Anvar gave a complete verse translation in 2012.
Who it is for
A long poem in couplets, to be read slowly. It helps to know that each bird stands for a human failing, and that the narrative advances by digressions.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the summits of Sufism in the Persian language; Jean-Claude Carrière's adaptation, staged by Peter Brook in 1979, made it known far and wide.