Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)
    The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)
    The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)
    Ebook53 pages1 hour

    The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)

    By Farid ud-Din Attar

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Farid ud-Din Attar (1145/46 – 1221) was a Persian poet, druggist, and social theorist of Sufism, who wrote much of his poetry while treating hundreds of patients a day with his herbal remedies. As a young man he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and sought wisdom during his travels in Egypt, Damascus and India. His masterpiece, "The Conference of the Birds", has survived centuries because of its captivating poetic style and its symbolic exploration on the true nature of God. This 4500-line poem follows the birds of the world, each of which hold special significance, as they seek out the Simorgh – a mythical Persian bird much like the phoenix – in hopes that he might be their king. The birds must cross seven valleys on their quest, each of which represents various trials that the individual must pass through to realize the true nature of God. Within the overlying allegory, Attar captivates readers with short, charming stories in beautiful and clever language.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateFeb 1, 2012
    ISBN9781420944754
    The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)

    Related to The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Walking With The Sufis

      Oct 7, 2020

      Walking With The Sufis
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mountain Time

      Jan 1, 2021

      In the air you don’t know who you are or where My own self feels it is in wind being born These are currents a man made one eighth of smokeless fire fears but chooses A path south from Anchorage to a Mountain House Ungovern the northern land to pass

      10 min read

    • Article

      Folk Tales of Asia

      Jun 8, 2020

      Folk Tales of Asia
      1 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Salar Abdoh

      Dec 1, 2020

      The older I get the more I am drawn to books I know I haven’t the faintest tool to conceive of writing myself. The post A Year in Reading: Salar Abdoh appeared first on The Millions.

      11 min read

    • Article

      How to Tell a Shattered Story

      Dec 21, 2017

      How to Tell a Shattered Story
      5 min read

    • Article

      Death

      Mar 2, 2023

      Death
      1 min read

    • Article

      Press-ganged!

      Jun 13, 2019

      Press-ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Press Ganged!

      May 1, 2020

      Press Ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Jan 1, 2021

      Pre-apocalypse, things take on a certain radiance our eye the dystopian lens lingering on death: a field of corpses, say— then resting on an amber ditch where the assassin’s flicked cigar flares red. And now I’m eating wasps. Did you know that figs a

      2 min read

    • Article

      Something About John Coltrane

      Sep 1, 2021

      Something about a tree in shallow sleepListening for what it wants to remember: The note of a seed, its neck sliding throughDirt and its confusion—nothing cleansed Of struggle. The weight lost after death,A confrontation of death. John Coltrane Even

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Twitch Upon The Thread

      Oct 17, 2019

      A Twitch Upon The Thread
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Wild Swans at Coole

      Aug 1, 2023

      The Wild Swans at Coole
      1 min read

    • Article

      from BLACK PASTORAL

      Nov 1, 2023

      somewheres, some lifetimes ago I have run so far, so long.There is nowhere I haven’t beenBut here, in this field, a bodyLength from the ragged brinkThat gives way to forest.I collapsed here, the thin, hard slipOf me whittled at both ends.I want badly

      4 min read

    • Article

      My Purpose Holds

      Aug 10, 2020

      My Purpose Holds
      1 min read

    • Article

      Bard In The Woods

      Nov 30, 2020

      Bard In The Woods
      4 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Mar 2, 2020

      Some people jump, some people dive,Others inch by inch arrive And give themselves up to the chill,Piecemeal, with a grudging will: First toes, then ankles tempt the cold,And backs of knees, that, tender, fold, Then thighs that start to pimple, blo

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Call Of The Wild

      Nov 30, 2020

      The Call Of The Wild
      2 min read

    • Article

      Enjoy Your Fright

      Dec 10, 2021

      Enjoy Your Fright
      2 min read

    • Article

      Cape Horn

      Oct 22, 2020

      They lifted anchor, spread the sails,Quit shores where they were born,Bound for spice isles from doubtful talesBy way of far Cape Horn—Rough seamen, fortune-bound, to tradeIn gold and peppercornAnd woo a grass-clad island maid—But first to round Cape

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Highland magic

      Dec 29, 2021

      The Highland magic
      4 min read

    • Article

      Red Sea Delight

      Dec 5, 2019

      Red Sea Delight
      7 min read

    • Article

      Lonely As A Cloud

      Jun 6, 2022

      Lonely As A Cloud
      1 min read

    • Article

      Competition

      Aug 25, 2021

      IN COMPETITION No 270, you were invited to write a poem called The Hall. Heather Oxley began, ‘Our halls are gateways to our outside selves.’ John Oldershaw’s narrator started in medias res: ‘“It’s the hall that sells the house!”/ Said Mr Valentine,

      2 min read

    • Article

      RHYME & REASON

      May 17, 2021

      RHYME & REASON
      1 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems by Paul Valéry

      Apr 14, 2020

      Two Poems by Paul Valéry
      1 min read

    • Article

      Sabotage In Stormy Seas

      May 23, 2019

      THE SHADOW IN THE SANDS First published by Headline in 1998. Currently available via Kindle, £4.64 Gloria was thundering under bare poles into a night no less black than when I had last seen it. The wind felt softer, which is always the way when that

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament)

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Conference of the Birds (Bird Parliament) - Farid ud-Din Attar

      THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS

      (BIRD PARLIAMENT)

      BY FARID UD-DIN ATTAR

      TRANSLATED BY EDWARD FITZGERALD

      A Digireads.com Book

      Digireads.com Publishing

      Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4394-8

      Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4475-4

      This edition copyright © 2012

      Please visit www.digireads.com

      Once on a time from all the Circles seven 1

      Between the stedfast Earth and rolling Heaven

      THE BIRDS, of all Note, Plumage, and Degree,

      That float in Air, and roost upon the Tree;

      And they that from the Waters snatch their Meat,

      And they that scour the Desert with long Feet;

      Birds of all Natures, known or not to Man,

      Flock'd from all Quarters into full Divan,

      On no less solemn business than to find

      Or choose, a Sultan Khalif of their kind, 10

      For whom, if never theirs, or lost, they pined.

      The Snake had his, 'twas said; and so the Beast

      His Lion-lord: and Man had his, at least:

      And that the Birds, who nearest were the Skies,

      And went apparell'd in its Angel Dyes.

      Should be without—under no better Law

      Than that which lost all other in the Maw—

      Disperst without a Bond of Union—nay,

      Or meeting to make each the other's Prey—

      This was the Grievance—this the solemn Thing 20

      On which the scatter'd Commonwealth of Wing,

      From all the four Winds, flying like to Cloud

      That met and blacken'd Heav'n, and Thunder-loud

      With Sound of whirring Wings and Beaks that clash'd

      Down like a Torrent on the Desert dash'd:

      Till by Degrees, the Hubbub and Pell-mell

      Into some Order and Precedence fell,

      And, Proclamation made of Silence, each

      In special Accent, but in general Speech

      That all should understand, as seem'd him best, 30

      The Congregation of all Wings addrest.

      And first, with Heart so full as from his Eyes

      Ran weeping, up rose Tajidar the Wise;

      The mystic Mark upon whose Bosom show'd

      That He alone of all the Birds THE ROAD

      Had travell'd: and the Crown upon his Head

      Had reach'd the Goal; and He stood forth and said:

      'O Birds, by what Authority divine

      I speak you know by His authentic Sign,

      And Name, emblazon'd on my Breast and Bill: 40

      Whose Counsel I assist at, and fulfil:

      At His Behest I measured as he plann'd

      The Spaces of the Air and Sea and Land;

      I gauged the secret sources of the Springs

      From Cloud to Fish: the Shadow of my Wings

      Dream'd over sleeping Deluge: piloted

      The Blast that bore Sulayman's Throne: and led

      The Cloud of Birds that canopied his Head;

      Whose Word I brought to Balkis: and I shared

      The Counsel that with Ásaf he prepared. 50

      And now you want a Khalif: and I know

      Him, and his whereabout, and How to go:

      And go alone I could, and plead your cause

      Alone for all: but, by the eternal laws,

      Yourselves by Toil and Travel of your own

      Must for your old Delinquency atone.

      Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse

      Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse,

      Yourselves would know that, though you see him not,

      He is with you this Moment, on this Spot, 60

      Your Lord through all Forgetfulness and Crime,

      Here, There, and Everywhere, and through all Time.

      But as a Father, whom some wayward Child

      By sinful Self-will has unreconciled,

      Waits till the sullen Reprobate at cost

      Of long Repentance should regain

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1