The Conference of the Birds by Attar of Nishapur: book review

The Conference of the Birds is an epic poem of 93 pages, written in 1177 by the Persian poet Attar of Nishapur. This edition is the 2016 Sholeh Wolpe translation.

A group of birds wants to appoint a leader. The group includes the hoopoe, parrot, partridge, falcon, duck, quail, nightingale, peacock, pheasant, turtle-dove, pigeon, heron, phoenix, hawk, sparrow, owl, goldfinch, and many more.

The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, says that they should find Simurgh to be their leader, but, she says, the road is long and the sea is deep on the way to Mount Qaf.

Rather than extolling their virtues and why they should be the adventurous one, each of the birds tells why they cannot be the one to search for Simorgh – thus revealing their faults. For example, the sparrow says that she is ‘as frail as a hair … how can a weakling like me make her way to the Simurgh ?’

The hoopoe takes the lead in the search, and all the other birds agree to follow her. Throughout the story, the birds receive much advice. The wise Sufi advises to ‘make sure then that the bird of ambition aquires wings of aspiration, and give to your heart and reason the ecstasy of the soul.’ Others give advice too – the Muslim warrior, the Christian crusader, the Indian Rajah, the astrologer, and a holy fool.

Of the thousands of birds who set out on the journey, how many reach the end ‘with neither feathers nor wings’ on the way to the heights of immortality?

This age-old allegorical tale has everything from the spiritual to the earthly, and from humour to tragedy, but especially, it has the wisdom of the ages. It’s a glorious story.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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